SINGAPORE - A guide to support outdoor education providers in managing emergencies and improving safety was released on Jan 24.

The document by the Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) Council – set up in September 2022 – spells out the steps that providers should take before, during and after emergencies.

These include identifying types of emergencies and serious incidents that are commonly associated with certain programmes, such as exposure to weather elements or bone injuries.

Providers should also differentiate between minor and major emergencies, which will then guide the organisation’s response and measures according to the severity and impact of incidents.

The guide, which is available at www.go.gov.sg/eapguide, also states that there should be specific roles and responsibilities assigned to individuals in providers’ emergency action plans. For instance, an activity leader ought to cease the activity and report the incident, among other steps.

The announcement of these guidelines comes after the death of a 15-year-old Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student. Jethro Puah Xin Yang fell from a high-element course at Safra Yishun on Feb 3, 2021, during a school activity organised by Camelot, an outdoor adventure learning company.

Muhammad Nurul Hakim Mohamed Din, 23, the volunteer outdoor activities facilitator who failed to do a physical check on Jethro’s harness, was sentenced to six months’ jail on Jan 15.

In addition, a set of guidelines to address safety in OAE activities is being developed and will be available for public feedback in the second half of 2024. It is expected to be published by 2025.

Upon completion, this national standard for OAE activities will spell out the expected level of care and safety to be practised by activity instructors, and their accountabilities when conducting such activities – land, water and height activities.

Key stakeholders such as the Institute of Technical Education and Outward Bound Singapore are among the 17 organisational representatives that have been working with the OAE Council to develop these guidelines.

Ms Tan Ai Chin, Republic Polytechnic’s programme chair for the diploma in outdoor and adventure learning, said emergency management practices vary across private and government-linked outdoor education providers, due to reasons like staff qualifications and experience, and the profile of participants.

The new guidelines can help standardise safety policies and practices across different providers, to meet baseline industry standards and ensure that their systems are updated, she said.

Providers need to communicate the policies and procedures to staff and monitor how well they are following them, she said, adding that staff leading outdoor education activities should ensure that their professional certifications in areas such as first aid skills are updated.

“They should also be trained to be ready to handle incidents, which includes practising evacuation drills. We recognise that emergencies can vary due to their nature, thus staff should also be trained to exercise sound judgment too,” Ms Tan said.

Currently, OAE providers and instructors offering height-based activities to students need to implement the Ministry of Education’s enhanced safety measures, which include additional requirements and protocols. These were published in November 2022.

By the first quarter of 2025, the OAE sector can expect support to build their skills through a workforce development road map. It will outline the specific job scopes, prerequisites and possibilities for career progression within the OAE sector.

Mr Sharma Bhanu, 53, said his three daughters, aged 15, 13 and 11, look forward to outdoor adventure activities that their secondary and primary schools organise for them, and are disappointed when high-element activities are not included.

The real estate consultant said he has little choice but to place “blind faith” in schools to ensure that service providers are competent to conduct these activities.

“I can only hope they are doing their due diligence to ensure that the service providers they hire have safety measures in place,” he added.

Mr Bhanu said that while the new guidelines for managing emergencies may be useful for service providers, they do not mean accidents will never happen.

“It is good that now there will be somebody on the ground to assume responsibility and take action, but what are they doing specifically to prevent accidents? There must be a more robust system to ensure that certain accidents will not occur because every possible precaution would have been taken,” he said.