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Our Safety Guide for Raleigh Expeditions
Experienced staff and Venturer Management team
Our Expedition staff teams are highly experienced, committed and resourceful individuals who have been selected and trained to ensure they uphold Raleigh’s high standards of safety. Groups will have local management with them to guide them on culture and safety.
Every programme also has a dedicated team of Venturer Managers who support with on the ground safe delivery of our programmes. Our Venturer Managers are selected from a range of backgrounds. All must pass our standard assessment process, and some are assessed against additional specific criteria (depending on the role). All are required to have First Aid qualifications. Our project coordinators (wellbeing leads) are also required to have Mental Health First Aid, or equivalent qualifications.
We also deliver top up first aid training as part of their induction process to ensure everyone knows how to implement their First Aid qualification in a more remote environment with the resources available.
We also utilis local medical expertise where available to ensure emergency care is delivered in the shortest possible time (this includes transportation to a hospital)
Risk assessment and planning for emergencies
We conduct risk assessments of all our project locations and activities prior to venturers arriving on programme. We also prepare medical and non-medical emergency evacuation plans for each project location. We regularly update our hospital databases and know which hospitals we will use if we need them. We also have crisis management plans in place, so we are ready to respond to any type of serious incident.
All our Venturer Managers and Venturers are trained in how to assess risk on the ground and what to do in an emergency as part of their induction training.
Training for all Venturer Managers and Venturers
All our Venturer Managers and venturers receive comprehensive training as part of their programme induction. We equip venturers with the confidence and knowledge to take their own responsibility for their safety. Topics such as risk assessment and management, health and well-being on programme (including safeguarding procedures), safe use of tools & equipment, and what to do in an emergency are included in their training.
We provide participants with any safety equipment required for project activities. This might include PPE such as helmets or protective goggles, and communications equipment such as Satellite phones or GPS devices.
Daily communications
Our Expedition offices maintain daily contact with all our venturer teams on the projects. Teams are provided with a communications kit including a smart phone, dumb phone, GPS and a SPOTEX or satellite phones so they can contact us at all times regardless of signal or wifi available.
Teams are scheduled to call once a day, apart from trek teams who call twice per day. However the line is always open in case of an incident, an emergency or any other support required.
We have office-based roles and staff dedicated to providing daily support directly to the Venturer Managers on project site. Their role is to provide advice and guidance in relation to things such as project work and activities, health & safety considerations, and any volunteer support needs.
Communications with Next of Kin will be managed by a Venturer Coordinator directly.
Emergency Incident Management – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
All venturers on programme are trained in who and how to contact in an emergency situation. In addition, we also provide additional support through our UK office.
We offer a 24/7 emergency phone support through a duty manager system. We have 24/7 on call staff member on the ground, as well as one internationally. This allows us to provide support to Expedition staff teams, as well as for venturers’ next of kin whilst they are on programme. The team are also responsible for communicating with venturers’ emergency contacts (next of kin) in the unlikely event we need to. At the pre-departure stage, we ask all venturers to give the contact details of someone who we are able to contact for them in case of an emergency.
Who to call in an emergency
For family and friends of venturers on programme: our Volunteer Journey Team is available during UK office hours (Monday – Friday) via our main switchboard on +443331886732.
Emergency contact number 24/7: +448081753870
All volunteers will be trained in their programme induction about who to contact in an emergency and how to do it.
