11.30 arrival

Those present – Libby Bateman (Cumbria), Glyn Parry (Bangor), Beth Redfern (Keele), Katy Young (Liverpool), Alison Fleet (Bath), Polly Harker (Bath), Paul Brooks (Bath), Rick O'Toole (Sheffild Hallam), David Walker (RoSPA), Geoff Banks (Leeds), Ian Johnston (Lincoln)

Apologies – Debora Bernam (Reading), Alisdair Denholm (Lancaster), Ian Bulger (MMU), Mike Riley (Sussex), Jules Leniard (Notts), Joe Cooper (UCLan), Callum Anderson (Teeside), Pete Burgan (University of London), Rachel Rogers (Greenwich), Jaqs Boune (UEL), Peter Kidd (York)

11.45 Guest Speaker – David Walker djwalker@rospa.com - RoSPA - The Royal Society of the Prevention of Accidents, David Walker is the Information Officer for the Leisure department in RoSPA. The main responsibilities of that department are

• Production of Annual Drowning Stats
• Manages Play Safety
• Support Members (currently 3,500, mostly professionals)
• Input into the development of safety policies such as 'Every Child Matters'

RoSPA had been formed for 80 years. They are aiming to make things 'As safe as necessary, not as safe as possible' it is a risk awareness and not a risk averse approach. Helping to promote and structure extreme sports to enable participation.

Current Projects include

• Accident Investigation - Student Groups
• Young Persons Reference Group
• Young Drivers behavior
• Accident & Incident Data

RoSPA are currently looking to pull together a review of paddling sports across Universities, and are working with Spike Green at Plas Y Brenin on this project.

Questions were directed to the group and discussed within the meeting

• Definitions of a club trip and trip management?
• What are the processes?

12.45-1.30 Lunch

1.30 Meeting

Dealing with accidents - what happens when in spite of all measures in
place something goes wrong.

A discussion took place between Universities about procedure that are in place should a incident/accident occur. Most Institutions will have a policy with in the University which could be looked to and be adopted by individual departments. It is important that this information is disseminated amongst students and trip leaders as they will be on the front line in any major accident or incident. Getting and providing good information prior to trips going out can save alot of problems and time, should an incident occur.

Include any accident procedure within your activity safety policy

David Walker added that consideration for counseling for effected individuals should also be part of the policy. It is often best to be proactive in the approach to this as many individuals may not be aware of the benefits of counseling or even that it is available to them. The manner in which people are treat following a major accident can often turn things around in an individuals perception.

If people are not satisfied that their institution has a Risk Management System or that it is not been adheared to then the Health and Safety at Work act must be refered to with particular attention to sections 36/37 and 40. For further details please click

Paperwork - Safety v Barriers to participation - This item was not discussed as it was covered with in discussions during the RoSPA presnetation.

SASA Conference - update/plans - The SASA conference is planned to be held at Liverpool on the 1st week in September, the final format of the conference is yet to be completed. Rick is to Visit Liverpool to view facilities. SASA committee are to meet on Monday 9th June at Leeds to finalize arrangements.

Open Agenda

Transport & Mini Buses - Paul Brooks (Bath) gave a brief presentation about how they do things at Bath and about current advise from CTA & VOSA. A briefing sheet with regards to Licences, as interpreted by Bath Union can be viewed by clicking here

Bath have adopted the MiDAS Minibus assesesment and also the new MiDAS car and MPV assessment for its users. Bath students wishing to drive a trailer also undergo an assessment of competence before the are able to do so, even if they are already licenced to tow. Training is also offered in Minibus Emergency Evacuation Procedures (MEEP) Details of both MiDAS assessment can be viewed here

Bath Union have Mercades Vito van convertions on lease hire from ARVAL, these cost in the region of £300-£400/month which includes all tyres/services/MOTs etc. This is for a 12 month lease. They also have a couple of Mini buses, all with S19 permits. All buses with S19 permits do not need to use a Tacograph but all buses do need to be fitted wtih speed limiters.

Bath also implement a drivers hours policy which opperates the same as the law for commertial drivers. The Bath Policy can be viewed in the Bath transport website The website also has a fully intagrated Transport Booking System with all Driver Details and vehicle details kept on one interactive database. The this system was built by Oliver Glass who has a sample of the system available on his website.

How to manage student behavior on Trips - Beth Redfern (Keele) had concerns about how to student behavior whilst on trips away but outside of the actually club activity. Other organizations said that they had a written down code of conduct for trips away from the University which trip organizers must sign up to. If problems arise and you get to know about it then alot of organizations impose bans and fines on the clubs involved through documented Disciplinary Procedures.

Meeting Closed 3.30