Heads of Establishment should work with staff to develop risk assessments for the range of venues likely to be used on a regular basis. Routine and Expected visits are by their nature low risk activities and should be quick and easy to risk assess adopting a common sense approach.
Assessing and managing risk is an important aspect of young people’s development and involving children and young people in the risk assessment process should be an integral aspect of preparing them for an off-site visit. Having an understanding of the risks, and co-creating relevant control measures with participants, is more likely to result in children and young people complying with those measures. Even the youngest learners can be involved in the risk assessment process – examples of this process can be found in the Involving children and young people in planning off-site visits Toolkit.
Routine and Expected visits might include venues such as museums and swimming pools. Such external providers are required to carry out a risk assessment of their own premises and activities. They must then implement appropriate measures to ensure that their activities are safe. There is no need for Visit Leaders to request copies of these risk assessments.
Sample risk assessments can be found within the Toolkit.
