Home > Health & Safety > Law > HSE Act > Regulations > Adventure Activities Regulations

Adventure Activities Regulations:

Guidance for operators

The Ministry has developed guidance for adventure activity operators to provide detailed information on the Health and Safety in Employment (Adventure Activities) Regulations 2011.

This guidance has been written to help operators understand who is covered by the Regulations. In particular, it outlines what the Ministry’s interpretations are of ‘designed to deliberately expose the participant to a risk of serious harm’ and what constitutes ‘being guided, taught how, or assisted to participate in the activity’.

The document is designed to be read in conjunction with the Regulations, but if operators are still unsure of how the Regulations affect them, they should

contact the Ministry's Labour Group on 0800 20 90 20 in the first instance.

If you are starting to provide an activity that is covered by the Regulations you must notify the Ministry of your details. Notification is not registration. Registration of operators will be required from 1 November 2014, or earlier if an operator receives written notice requiring them to do so.

Transitional safety audit certificates

Registration of operators will be required by 1 November 2014, or earlier if an operator receives written notice from the Ministry to register under Regulation 9.

Early registration will not be required for operators who already have a current safety audit from an auditor accepted by the Ministry as having appropriate experience and qualifications.

Operators who, by 15 February 2013, had passed a safety audit from an auditor on the Ministry’s list of transitional auditors are exempt from having to pass a new safety audit while their existing audit certificate remains current. This is provided that the operator had already notified the Ministry of their adventure activities by 31 December 2012.

List of transitional safety audit providers

The full list of transitional safety audit providers is set out below. These are the auditors whose safety audits, if completed by 15 February 2013, will be accepted during the transitional period before the new regulations are fully implemented.

Operators with valid audit certificates provided by one of these groups or organisations, or by an auditor approved by one of these groups or organisations, will not be required to register early under Regulation 9.

Notes:

Note 1 – It is implicit that an operator should engage an audit provider whose scope of competence is relevant to the activities the operator is providing. A safety audit provider should audit only those operators whose activities are relevant to the auditor’s scope of competence.

Note 2 – 'Project Adventure' was previously included in the above list in error.