Safety and Accreditation

Our excellent safety record is based on 16 years of working with groups in the outdoors. We have very few accidents, and those that do happen are recorded and reviewed to make sure that we learn from them.

All activities are risk assessed in writing and risk management practices are put in place to manage them. Your health and safety is our prime consideration and drives everything we do.

Where established National Governing Body qualifications exist your lead instructor on each session will hold the appropriate qualification. Mountain Biking is an exception as few instructors hold a qualification, so here we insist instructors have another adventure group leadership qualification, are experience mountain bikers and work to our risk assessment (this is agreed with our insurers). Archery is also led on a risk assessment basis, with some staff externall trained and some trained in house.

We carry Employers Liability (£10,000,000), Public and Products Liability (£5,000,000) and Errors and Omissions Liability (£100,000) Insurance with Jardine Lloyd Thomson (01452 511400).

For clients under eighteen years old we are licensed by the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority for Watersports, Mountaineering and Trekking and we run to the same standards for over eighteens (where there is no licensing requirement).

We are also a corporate member of the Institute for Outdoor Learning.

We are a Canoe Wales Approved Centre running many instructor training awards.

The main qualifications of our instructors are

British Canoe Union Coaching Qualifications - Level 1 to 5 coach and 5* awards

Mountain Leadership Training Board - Single Pitch Supervisor Award (SPA) and Mountain Leader (ML) Award.

Our Technical Adviser for most activities is Chris Tym. Peter Carol and Richard Witheridge are joint Technical Advisers for kayaking and open canoeing on white water.

Our maximum working ratios are shown below.

Activity	Operating Areas and descriptions of environmental conditions	Operating Seasons	Minimum Instructor Qualifications	Minimum Assistant Qualification	Instructor / Client Ratio
Rock Climbing, Multi-Pitch	UK, Summer Conditions*	Year Round	Mountaineering Instructor Award Or Assessed by MIA as competent	SPA with Multi-Pitch Experience	1:3
Rock Climbing, Multi-Pitch	UK, Summer Conditions*	Year Round		SPA with Multi-Pitch Experience	Lockwoods Chimney 1:8
Gorge Walking	UK, Summer Conditions*	Year Round	ML with SPA or Level 2 Cave Leader or Level 2 Mine Leader or Staff Holding LEA gorge walking certificates or assessed by MIA as competent		1:9
Sea Level Traversing	UK, Summer Conditions*	Year Round	SPA + Canoe Safety Test or Level 2 Cave or Mine Leader + Canoe Safety Test	SPA or Level 2 Cave or Mine Leader	1:6
Rock Climbing Single Pitch	UK, Summer Conditions*	Year Round	Single Pitch Award	SPA trained	1:9
Climbing walls, climbing above five feet (or walls own bouldering height limit) i.e. using ropes	Either indoors UK, Summer Conditions*	Year Round	SPA trained	SPA trained	1:9 1:9

For current risk assessments please email us.

All instructors are required to abide by our operations procedure and follow our risk assessments and all lead instructors carry a current first aid qualification, and a first aid kit and emergency equipment.

If you require personal accident insurance or cancellation insurance please go through a third party.

This is the safety briefing which you are asked to sign on arrival along with a declaration of medical conditions:

GENERIC SAFETY BRIEFING

Please read this safety briefing thoroughly, and ask your instructor if you have any questions. Your instructor will give you an activity-specific Safety Brief on arrival at your activity site.

Adventurous activities do have an element of danger, but we reduce those risks to make your experience pleasurable and with a low risk of injury. To assist us in this you must ensure:

You will not participate in any activity whilst under the influence of alcohol and/ or drugs.
You tell us of any medical conditions that may affect you during the activity, especially: asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, any heart problems, muscular, back or joint problems. We need to know this information so that we can manage these issues or, if necessary, advise you not to proceed. Do not undertake any activity against medical advice. Instructors can carry any medication on the activities, so please don’t leave inhalers etc. behind.

Listen to your instructors and follow their instructions. Your instructor will tell you how the session will run and what your responsibilities are. Help each other, and ask if you see anything that you may think carries an unreasonable risk.

You are undertaking the activities by choice so you may choose to opt out of part or all of an activity but you MUST tell your instructors so that they can make sure this is done safely.

If you do get any injury please tell us so that:

We can treat and record the injury
We can review the incident and try to avoid a repetition

Do not wear rings or dangly jewellery during activities. Small dry-bags for wallets and valuables are available in the shop, as are thermal tops, power bars, fleeces and footwear.

Your instructor will ask you to complete a customer care form. Your feedback is vitally important to us: it helps us to ensure we are providing exactly what you – the customer – really want. We will always do our best to act on your feedback, it so please include your contact details on the forms.

From time to time we may photograph some activities for inclusion in our website/brochure etc – if you do not want to be photographed please inform your instructor.

ProAdventure Ltd. reserves the right to ask any participant to leave the activity or course if that person acts in any way that may endanger themselves or any other person. No refund will be due in this instance.