Sunny afternoon on a terrace in Lagos having lunch with a friend from the National Civil Protection Authority. The topic of conversation fell on the falls from cliffs. He commented that a large number of civil protection incidents are related to accidents on cliffs, places that attract us so much. It was clear to me that I should write about a topic that worries me so much: safety in organizing activities in natural spaces.
In New Zealand or in neighboring Spain, risk management in activities in natural spaces is at the base of the training offer for future guides or instructors.
As Alberto Ayora* tells us, “zero risk does not exist”. Thus, with the conviction that we will never be able to guarantee absolute safety, it remains for us to pursue the best possible practices, in order to find, as professionals, that point of balance in which risk is minimized while obtaining the maximum result of positive experiences that can be lived in nature. And this, more than an obligation, is a duty!
Along my journey as an aspiring nature guide, many conversations or participation in activities made me reflect on the topic of safety for a long time. Some practices I witnessed led me to conclude that, in our country, there is an unfortunate tendency to ignore and criticize any public entity that lays down rules for carrying out active tourism activities. That “there are no accidental falls”, that these are “exclusive to fishermen” or that “from these cliffs no one has ever fallen”, were some observations that I heard several times.
It is true that there is still a lack of knowledge about the real numbers of accidents and that there is a huge failure of communication on the part of the entities that should regulate, but which restrict themselves to prohibiting it, without explaining reasons or reasons.
However, as entrepreneurs, instructors and guides, it is above all necessary to be aware and start to include the concern for safety in the philosophy of our companies and organizations, learning to include forecasting and risk management in every activity we prepare.
Someone showed me, some time ago, a photograph of a magnificent rock, many meters high, a few meters wide and vertically cut, which enters into the sea on our coast, which is still so wild and with access at times so difficult. In the same photograph, the image of a client “frozen” (out of fear, understand) appeared, who had taken, as the “guide” told us, about 2 hours to get out of there. Beside me, a friend with a lifetime of experience as a high mountain guide, shook his head commenting that “I would never take anyone there”.
Every time a hotel chooses partner companies for activities, opting for those that give them the highest commission and do not impose maximum limits on participants, not even wanting to know if they meet the legal requirements (throwing customers into activities that not even insurance offers), the risk to gamble with your customers' lives for nothing.
It is easy to let ourselves be carried away by an impulse that urges us to offer the most dazzling and the most radical, but it is necessary to know when to renounce this call. Because a unique experience can become the worst of nightmares, as Ayora told us when sharing her own experiences as a teacher, instructor and guide.
We have a duty to be considerate and not forget that there is always the risk of a slipping foot, an “unexplained” vertigo, a more unstable rock, a fault that awaits just one more winter, a small earthquake or the impact of many passages , to collapse and shorten the ground we walk on.
When preparing a trail, many factors have to be considered: the beauty of the places, the sustainability of the area and the species that exist there, the degree of difficulty, the escape routes, in short, safety.
Ayora also emphasizes that “to bring a project to a successful conclusion, you have to want to do, be able to do and know how to do it”, and professionals in this area should not forget that quality and safety are inseparable.
He also taught us that it is when we feel the need to acquire knowledge and advance in the learning process that we must take advantage of it to acquire safer habits. He calls it the “phase of conscious incompetence”.
I am pleased to see that several “incompetent” companies are taking over, which will only contribute to an increase in the quality of Nature Tourism. Because it is important that we internalize the responsibility of assuming for a few hours the safety of people who choose us to discover natural spaces that, fortunately, we do not control.
I, incompetent, I assume!
* Commander of the Military Corps of Alta Montanha de Jaca, Guide, professor and author of the book “Gestion de Riesgo”, Desnível publisher.
Author: Ana Carla Cabrita has a degree in Business Communication, with a specialization in Internal Communication from the Escola Superior de Comunicação Social. He is currently doing a postgraduate course in “Active Tourism in the Natural Environment” at the University Pablo de Olavide, in Seville. Owner and guide in the company Walkin'Sagres.
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