It is the responsibility of the Visit Leader to prepare a specific risk assessment for a Residential Visit.
A residential establishment is required to have risk assessments in place for their own premises. There is no need for Visit Leaders to request copies of these risk assessments.
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.
Visit Leaders are responsible for recording significant and foreseeable risks specific to their visit. This should take into account:
- The participants (including leaders and helpers)
- The venue
- The accommodation (in terms of how it affects the group)
- The activity
- Getting there
- Time of year
The findings of the risk assessment and the relevant precautions/controls should be agreed and understood by all participants including Visit Assistants (and parents where appropriate).
As part of the risk assessment, careful consideration has to be given to establishing leader: participant ratios. Various factors could affect the ratios during a visit such as staff or participant illness, or the need to provide 1:1 supervision. It is the responsibility of the Head of Establishment and Visit Leader to ensure that adequate levels of supervision can be maintained in these circumstances.
Sample risk assessments can be found within the Toolkits section of the website.
