Textbook

Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure

The acclaimed textbook Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure is available for purchase in paperback and eBook format.

Buy Now

Your outdoor, experiential or travel program provides fun, personal growth, adventure. It changes lives. But are your safety systems up to standards? If something happens, are you prepared to respond?


Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure provides essential knowledge for any adventure or outdoor professional. Program managers, executives, volunteers and group leaders will learn critical approaches and strategies for successfully anticipating and addressing risks.

Packed with real-life stories, current research findings, and good practice guidance, Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: a Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure gives expert advice on:

  • Approaches to Risk Management
  • Standards
  • Legal Considerations
  • Safety Culture
  • Activities and Program Areas
  • Staff
  • Equipment
  • Participants
  • Subcontractors
  • Transportation
  • Business Administration
  • Risk Transfer
  • Incident Management
  • Incident Reporting
  • Incident Reviews
  • Risk Management Committee
  • Medical Screening
  • Risk Management Reviews
  • Media Relations
  • Documentation
  • Accreditation
  • Seeing Systems

Use the button below to download a 15-page sample of the book, including Contents, Preface, and Introduction.

Download sample

Price: ‎USD 59

Author: Jeff A. Baierlein
Publisher: ‎Viristar (March 21, 2019)
Sold by: Amazon

Language: English

Paperback ‎
Length: 218 pages
Item Weight: ‎ .75 kg | 1.65 pounds
Dimensions: ‎ 21.6 x 1.4 x 28 cm | 8.5 x 0.54 x 11 inches
ISBN-10: 1733349111
ISBN-13: 978-1733349116
OCLC Number: 1273556703

eBook

The e-book edition, a Kindle e-book download, is available for virtually all devices, including

Android, iPhone, tablets, Mac and PC, with the free Kindle app.

Features of this print replica edition include:

  • Notes and highlights
  • Search, copy and paste
  • Zoom and pan
  • Pop-out linked table-of-contents
  • Page numbers matching print edition

Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure is used in university classrooms, educational travel programs, adventure tourism operations, search and rescue, adventure centers, outdoor education and forest schools, camps, wilderness therapy programs, park and recreation settings, and more.

About the Author

Jeff Baierlein (he/him) is the director of the consultancy Viristar, providing safety, curriculum, and strategy services to outdoor, adventure, travel, and experiential programs worldwide.

Jeff began working as an outdoor and adventure professional in 1987.  He has over 1000 field days leading mountaineering, sailing, whitewater and flatwater canoeing, backpacking, whitewater and sea kayaking, rock climbing, canyoning and caving expeditions up to three months in length. 

Jeff is the former Executive Director of Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School and of the Boojum Institute for Experiential Education. He has worked as an EMT and on Search and Rescue teams, leading rescues in North America and Asia.

Jeff has provided risk management reviews, expert witness services, incident reviews, and safety trainings for organizations in over 60 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America, and Africa.

Jeff lives on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Testimonials

  • Viristar does an excellent job guiding experienced outdoor program operators to see areas of improvement we otherwise wouldn’t see.

    Bill Feng

    Senior Manager of Operations, Keru Knowledge, Shanghai, China

  • I found this course incredibly useful…I was surprised and impressed with how much I learned and how applicable everything was.

    Dave Payne

    Director of Experiential Education, Sparks Rowing, Washington DC, USA

  • Michelle Kloet

    Alberta, Canada

  • This course was comprehensive, and the most informative part were the weekly self-assessments to reflect on where our organization was in terms of risk management.

    Beta Eaton

    Director of Global & Experiential Learning, Kents Hill School, Maine, USA

  • The Viristar textbook is easy to understand…the summary in each chapter helped me to understand the key points.

    Hjh Sofinaz Hj Abd Majid

    Training Officer, Outward Bound Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam

  • Jonah Berger

    National Youth Programs Manager, Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association/Camp Footprint, Pennsylvania, USA

  • Viristar has nailed their online learning approach. Course material is rigorous, up-to-date and highly relevant and practical to anyone involved in outdoor and experiential learning.

    Matthew Schulte

    Director of Local & Global Engagement, Canadian International School Hong Kong, Hong Kong

  • An invaluable tool when considering the risk management policies, procedures, and practices for my programming.

    John Lacroix

    Race Director, Human Potential LLC, Colorado, USA

  • Amanda Preperato

    Grinnell Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP) Director, Grinnell College, Iowa, USA

  • I feel more confident, motivated, and better prepared to make improvements in our risk management process.

    Daniela Borontiș

    Educational Programs Coordinator, Scout Leader, Romanian Scouts, Mehedinți, Romania

  • This course breaks the risk assessment down into bit size and meaningful thought processes.

    Tony Tan

    Chief Executive Officer, InnoTrek Pte Ltd, Singapore

  • Excellent curriculum based on well researched, evidence based, current, up to date content.

    Lanny Donde

    Outdoor Education Teacher, Calgary Academy, Alberta, Canada

  • [Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs textbook is] easy to read, very well organized and user friendly.

    Jon Twofifty

    Outdoor Experiential Trainer, Urbanite Camps, Nairobi, Kenya

  • The textbook is one of the best manuals I have read about risk management.

    Daniela Borontiș

    Educational Programs Coordinator, Scout Leader, Romanian Scouts, Mehedinți, Romania

  • Neil Haarhoff

    Director of Outdoor Education, Stanford Lake College, Limpopo, South Africa