Visit Assistants, including parents and carers supporting visits as well as volunteers working for service providers, have an important role in supporting and enabling outdoor learning experiences and off-site visits. They can help with the running of an activity and be part of the supervision ratio where competent to do so. Often in Adventure Activity settings Visit Leaders/assistants/volunteers need to be included in the operational ratios. Visit Assistants should be carefully selected and be briefed and prepared for their role (see Section 4.12).
Visit Assistants supervising participants must:
- Be made aware of the Visit Plan and any relevant risk assessments
- Understand how they can ensure the health and safety of everyone in the group
- Only be left in sole charge of participants where it has been previously agreed as part of the risk assessment
- Follow the instructions of the Visit Leader and help with control and discipline
- Inform the Visit Leader if concerned about the health or safety of participants at any time during the visit
