Rafting - People

Staff

All staff members must comply with current Departmental police-check requirements or the Working with Children Check.

A teacher registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching and either employed by the Department or the school council must be present and have overall responsibility for the activity.

‘Guide’ is the term used to define the staff member(s) responsible for delivering the technical aspects of rafting.  Each river trip must have a trip leader who is the guide with overall responsibility for the technical aspects of river travel.

Where not directly responsible for the instruction of the activity or assisting the trip leader, the teacher responsible for the activity must understand the activity and the environment in which it will be conducted.  This teacher must confer with the designated trip leader about the supervisory role and establish areas of responsibility.  If the teacher is not the designated trip leader, he/she is to act on the advice of the designated trip leader and guides on technical safety issues.

Any staff member with a known medical condition that might compromise the group’s risk management plan should make accompanying staff aware of this condition.  Issues of confidentiality and privacy will apply to any such disclosure.

Experience and qualifications

In the absence of any widely accepted raft guide training program in Australia, designated rafting guides must have one of the following:

• documented raft guide training and white water rescue training, together with experience from a training provider or educational institution, which can be benchmarked against relevant modules from SRO03 Outdoor Recreation Industry Training Package units SRORAF004A and SRORAF005A.  Details of this training package are available from the National Training Information Service.
• equivalent documented experience in lieu of qualifications/accreditation (this experience must be recorded in the Documentation of Staff Qualifications and Experience (Word - 132Kb).) and an appropriate white water rescue qualification (see Recreational swimming guidelines).

The skills and experience required by all designated rafting guides includes:

Required knowledge

• raft designs, material and construction types and repair techniques to maintain equipment in operational order
• the selection and use of rafting equipment, to determine suitable equipment for specific client groups
• the selection and use of rescue equipment, for retrieval of persons or equipment
• the knots used to secure raft and perform rescues, for maximum strength and safety
• hydrology and river features, to determine hazards
• defensive and aggressive swimming techniques (for own self, and to advise participants)
• medical problems commonly encountered while rafting, and appropriate first aid
• local conditions and effect of changes in gradient and volume on water dynamics, in order to determine safe operating conditions
• the international river grading system
• the effect of river levels and dam feed releases (top or bottom)
• the Marine Service Board and Marine Board Code of practice, in order to operate within acknowledged safe practices
• other legislative requirements (national parks, forestry, occupational health and safety) in order to conform to legislation
• the minimum impact code, in order to care for and protect the environment
• signalling techniques, in order to communicate while on the river
• the location, in order to provide a safe and informative activity.

Required skills

• defensive and aggressive swimming skills, to use if parted from raft
• first aid skills, appropriate to the location and level of responsibility
• raft handling skills, in order to safely manoeuvre raft
• river reading skills, in order to determine safe lines and routes through rapids
• river rescue techniques, in order to extract people and/or equipment from river
• communication skills, in order to deal with students and staff
• skills in managing conflict during an activity
• throwbag skills, in order to recover a swimmer.

Each rafting activity must have a nominated trip leader who is the guide responsible for overall technical safety while rafting and during associated activities on the river bank.  The trip leader will hold the qualifications described above, and will typically be the person with the most training and experience in the activity.  This person may or may not be a registered teacher.

In addition to the skills, knowledge and experience required for all designated rafting guides as described above, trip leaders must have and provide evidence of having the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to coordinate rescues and evacuations, lead and manage teams effectively in the river environment, liaise effectively with land owners and managers, and respond effectively to dynamic situations. 

These skills include, but are not limited to:

• prioritising risk
• using reach, throw, row, go, tow principles
• delegating tasks
• maintaining an overview of the situation
• achieving a quick resolution
• ensuring difficult situations do not escalate due to mismanagement
• ensuring the safety of activity participants.

Note: Many rivers in Victoria are affected by water release from dams or by floods, and water conditions can alter quite suddenly.  The designated trip leader must have paddled the river and have recent knowledge of it.  It is recommended that other guides should have paddled the planned stretch of river and be confident about guiding on water of the same grade and character.

Where staff members guide from kayaks, they require the qualifications described above for guides, and must hold the appropriate Australian Canoeing Inc. Whitewater Award or equivalent and have experience in supporting rafters from a hard shell craft (see Canoeing guidelines). 

Documentation of Staff Qualifications and Experience (Word - 132Kb) can be used to document staff qualifications/experience of accompanying staff members.

Where an external contractor is chosen to run all or part of this activity, the guidelines for the use of External providers should be followed.

Supervision

A minimum of two guides must be present for each activity, one with responsibility for leading the activity, and the other to assist the trip leader.

The following table shows the minimum staff-to-student ratios for rafting.  These must be applied when establishing the instructional and supervision strategy for the activity.

Activity	Guides required	Participant numbers**
Rafting: (Grade 1-3)	2	Up to 12
	3	13-18
	4	19–24*

* There should be a maximum of 30 participants in one group for rafting activities.  On overnight excursions, this number may need to be lowered to comply with maximum numbers allowed by land managers at campsites.  There should be a minimum of two craft for any rafting activity.

** A participant is any person not qualified as a rafting guide.

The table above provides minimum guide allocations.  Different rivers and river levels may require smaller groups or additional guiding staff. 

Decisions about staff numbers and suitability for the activity should be based on the:

• age, maturity, gender and physical characteristics* of students
• ability and experience of students
• needs of individuals  
• dynamics of the student group
• experience, qualifications and skills of staff
• location of the activity
• anticipated conditions at the location.

*For example, if a group includes any physically large students, supervising staff must have the required training and qualifications to undertake any necessary rescue and the required physical attributes.

Where students are in rafts without guides, the trip leader and guides must consider how this will affect the management of the group.  Guides must maintain at least the same guide to student ratio as for guided rafts and may require a greater number of staff.

Students must not be taken through rapids known or, in the circumstances, likely to be at or above grade 4 (please see the explanation of the International River Classification System in these guidelines).

The teacher in charge is responsible for the supervision strategy, which must be endorsed by the school council as part of the excursion approval process.  Staff members should supervise students according to this strategy.

If a decision is made to vary the recommended allocation of supervising staff, reasons for the variation must be documented.  The minimum requirements for this activity are provided above.

Overnight excursions

 

Informed consent

Informed consent should be based on an understanding of:

• the educational purpose of the activity
• the nature and details of the activity and the foreseeable risks involved
• the supervision strategy
• a 24-hour school contact number
• other information deemed relevant by the school, parents or guardians.

Informed consent must be given in writing and signed by parents or guardians.

First aid

Staff members must carefully consider the nature and location of the excursion, as well as the medical history of the students, to determine the level of first aid training required by staff.  For example, if any student in the group has a history of anaphylaxis and may require the use of an epi-pen, appropriately trained staff must be present.