2 Introduction

2.1 Background to the review

On 16 September 2009, the Prime Minister wrote to the Minister of Labour expressing concern about a number of incidents in the adventure and outdoor commercial sectors, including the tragic death of the young British backpacker, Emily Jordan. The Prime Minister noted public concerns about the various regulatory regimes governing these activities in New Zealand.

The Prime Minister advised the Minister that he would like the Department of Labour to lead a cross departmental group to investigate and report back on the current situation and ways of improving risk management and safety in the sector. He requested a report on the group's findings and suggestions from the Minister on any changes she considers necessary to improve risk management and safety in the sector.

2.2 Purpose of the review

The purposes of the review are to determine whether, and in what way, it would be appropriate to make changes to the safety and risk management framework applicable to the adventure and outdoor commercial sectors in New Zealand to reduce accidents, injuries and fatalities in the sectors and to ensure that New Zealand continues to be recognised as a quality destination for international visitors.

The key objectives of the review are to investigate and report back to the Minister of Labour on the current risk management and safety systems and practices in the sectors and to identify any ways of improving risk management and safety.

2.3 Definition and scope

For the purposes of the review, 'adventure and outdoor commercial sectors' has been defined as meaning all recreational-type activities offered on a fee for service basis that carry heightened inherent risks that must be managed. Adventure or outdoor commercial service that are sold or provided, agency resources and jurisdictional issues have been determined to be within the scope of the review. Activities not paid for (non-commercial) and that are purely recreational have been determined to be out of scope.

2.4 Purpose of the consultation

The purpose of the consultation was to provide:

• An indication of the current risk management and safety practices of the sector including:
  • which industry associations or other tourism-related bodies respondents belong to
  • what regulations apply to the operation of their businesses
  • what compulsory and additional written standards, codes, local operating procedures, licensing regimes or other documents guide the operation of their business
  • what compulsory and additional auditing/monitoring/quality assurance of the operations of their business is undertaken
  • the ways respondents specifically manage risk and safety in their business
  • what practices are in place to record and report incidents (including near misses)
  • who they report incidents to (including near misses).
• Information on what respondents think is working well and what could be improved in terms of risk management and safety
• Information on what respondents think are the six most important principles that underpin well managed risk.

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