Mountain safety and risk prevention in group activities
People feel that they are more protected by the fact that they are riding in a group and especially when the group is being led by someone with experience, but in reality the exposure to risk may be higher. This is a psychological effect. This does not mean that the risk cannot be controlled or that it cannot be reduced by the measures that can be taken, but the exposure is still high.
What are collective activities in the mountains?
First of all, it is necessary to clarify the concept of collective activity used in mountain sports safety guides and manuals.
When we talk about collective activities in the mountains, we are referring to all the activities that are competitions, trainings and meeting events that are organised by an institution that takes responsibility for (federation, association or club) and in which a group of people participate.
Collective activities are the fundamental basis of the operations of the bodies responsible for mountain sports. This is because collective activity itself involves a process of socialisation, which is one of the best contributions that any organisation can make to society.
Why risks are increasing in collective mountain activities
Risks are increased by a number of factors:
Increased risk due to higher number of exposed persons
The mountain safety consists of assessing the existing hazards, as they are the origin of possible damage and accidents. The fact that participation in any type of activity, competition or training in the natural environment is collective implies that, as the group is made up of a larger number of people, the exposure to each of the risks that may occur is higher.
On the theoretical side, who is responsible for planning a collective activity has to be aware that they face a higher risk than if they were dealing with individuals doing their activities individually. This is mainly because the number of people involved increases and, therefore, the number of people involved increases, the risk in collective activities is higher.
Lack of proper planning and risk assessment
Currently, there is no regulation that expressly obliges those responsible for a collective activity to carry out a certain type of planning or to carry out a risk assessment. However, experience shows that in the event of an accident or incident it is very likely that a complaint will be made.
In that case, it may be that the judge considers that your responsibility as the organiser of such a collective activity means that you should have carried out a risk assessment.. Having this assessment is a logical step if you want to have a mountain safety system that is commensurate with the collective activity undertaken.
Ignorance of the main causes of accidents
As a percentage, the falls, disorientation and physical discomfort are the most frequent factors that cause an accident and are therefore considered to be the main risks in collective activities in the mountains.
However, the most important precursors of accidents include the following overestimation of one's own potential, lack of experience or technical level, little or no planning, as well as the absence of adequate physical preparation..
The large number of non-federation members
The high percentage of people practising mountain sports who are not members of a federation is another risk factor, as a large number of people do not have access to the training and information provided by the federations.
Moreover, they do not have the possibility to share the knowledge acquired through the collective activities organised by the clubs. Statistics indicate that about 79% of the rescues carried out in the mountains involve non-federation members..
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Risk prevention measures in collective activities
Many causes of accidents can be foreseen:
Conduct proper planning and risk assessment
A risk planning in a collective mountain activity has to take into account criteria such as length, slope, difficulty and others. All risks that may be present or foreseeable in the proposed activity should be assessed.
It is known as risk management all this planning management. A basic aspect is the implementation of some kind of system to measure the level of difficulty more objectively than in the subjective low-medium-high model.
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Consider the risks of any activity
There is no collective activity in the mountains, no matter how easy it may seem, that is not exposed to risks. There are always risks of falls on the same level, falls from different levels, stone falls, and other accidents.. In addition, consideration should be given to those that may occur according to the weather conditions and also some caused by the people themselveswhich are generally the main factors causing accidents.
Security training
One of the relevant aspects to be considered with regard to training as a training measure is the risk prevention in collective activities are as follows:
- At the present time, the Mountain Federations have a course planning for clubs and those responsible for safety in collective activities, aimed at enabling them to correctly manage their activities by means of risk assessment.
- In addition, there is all the training organised in the Federations' schools aimed at learning various techniques or disciplines.
Conclusions
The safety in collective mountain activities is affected by the greater number of people exposed to the particular risks of this type of practice in the natural environment.
In order to reduce the possible effects of these potential hazards, it is very important to be in a position to take measures to risk prevention in collective activities.
Sources: FEDME
