Examines ways in which outdoor adventure programs can guard against charges of negligence and the possibility of lawsuits without diluting challenge or participant satisfaction. Discusses risk management, insurance, safety guidelines to use in the development of program-specific standards, and accident prevention. Contains 19 references. (SV)

Describes a 10-step process for analyzing danger as a way of reducing the chance that an accident will happen, or minimizing its consequences to acceptable and recoverable levels. Factors that can inhibit the process include inappropriate attribution, relaxed concentration, rushing to maintain a schedule, group or peer pressure, and poor judgment.…

The Accident Frequency-Severity Chart (AFSC) is a tool for correctly assessing and appropriately coping with risks inherent in adventure programs. The AFSC helps to measure risk frequency (likelihood of loss) and severity (amount of loss) of specific outdoor activities. The AFSC can also be used to compare safety records of outdoor activities and…