Introduction

A system is needed for identifying benefits and hazards and assessing risks related to sport and recreation for all ages and abilities. In many jurisdictions, there is a requirement for the designers, builders, owners/operators, including inspectors and maintainers of a sport and other recreational facilities and equipment, to carry out a risk assessment and, in some cases, to record it.

International Standards have been published on risk assessment and general risk management including ISO 31000^[¹^], IEC 31010^[²^] and ISO 45001^[³^] on occupational health and safety These International Standards were written with the intention of providing methods for managing risk and preventing work-related injury and ill-health via the elimination of hazards and the minimization of occupational health and safety (OH&S) risks by taking effective preventive and protective measures. As the sport and recreation sectors have specific characteristics and face different challenges, there is a need for an additional International Standard. There is an expectation in sport and recreational activities that the user is making an implicit trade-off between the benefits and the inherent risks of the activity, including of the potential for harm.

Risks and benefits only have meaning in relation to the objectives pursued within the context of a project (i.e. the project scope). Regarding measuring the risks and benefits, any risk analysis should include at least the following objectives:

— injury and lethality (risk);
— improvement of health and wellbeing in a broad sense (benefit);
— compliance with legal requirements.

It is up to the user to determine the degree of acceptable risks and the minimum benefits to be achieved regarding the set objectives.

The terms “sports” and “recreation” describe diverse activities and the necessary equipment for all ages and abilities. For example, camping, hockey, high ropes and challenge course equipment, martial arts, games with rules such as football (soccer), kiteboarding, summer tobogganing, play spaces, etcetera all fall within “sports” and “recreation.”

It is recognized that sports and recreation involve numerous stakeholders including, but not limited to, designers, manufacturers, installers, owner/operators, maintainers, inspectors of sports and recreation equipment and facilities, and any park rangers, playworkers or activity leaders who may be present at these venues.

Due to the varied interests of the different stakeholders, a single system of hazard identification and risk assessment for the sport and recreation sector is not feasible. What can be achieved, however, is to identify principles and provide guidance on selecting appropriate techniques.

A key issue identified is the differentiation of sports and recreational activities from a work activity. Sports and recreational activities are designed for the public good; therefore public interests are paramount. The public good can include the social, physical, psychological health and welfare of the participant and society. Participation in sport and recreation involves exposure to risk which is not necessarily a bad thing and can be of benefit to the public good. Exposure to risk in daily life can reduce fear and improves the development of human competency.^[⁴^],[⁵^],[⁶^] This is to be balanced with the exclusion of unforeseen or unrecognizable sources of harm. For example, in adventure sports, exposure to risk is what provides part of the enjoyment. Even in the case of children's play provision, it is now widely recognized that children seek risky situations. Graduated challenge provides opportunities for children to develop internal hazard references. Therefore, the age of participants should be a consideration when assessing benefits and risks.

It is common to conduct a benefit-risk analysis that explicitly brings together the consideration of benefits as well as the risks of sport and recreation to a single evaluation. This immediately separates sport and recreation from the world of occupational health and safety where the goal, as noted above, is generally seen as one of eliminating or minimizing risk.

Within sport and recreation, there are many different goals of which prevention of injury is but one. Using a benefit-risk approach recognizes the need for making trade-offs in achieving a balance that maximizes the overall social utility and public good. These are not the only considerations, though they are important ones. Whether provided on a commercial, not-for-profit, or charitable basis, sport and recreational activities involve an accepted, inherent element of risk and challenge. Taking risks brings rewards but also dangers.

The range of stakeholders involved in sport and recreation is so diverse, different types of benefit-risk assessment is needed. Generally, there are three types of assessments that can be used: the generic risk assessment, the site-specific risk assessment, and the dynamic risk assessment. This document helps providers of products, activities, and operators of facilities to better understand the risks associated with their products, activities, and facilities, and to evaluate, implement, and document a suitable benefit-risk analysis. For example, a generic risk assessment technique can be used to analyse the risks related to skis, while a site-specific risk assessment can be used by the owner/operator to evaluate the ski hill; and the skier and the ski instructor are dynamically assessing the risk during the skiing activity.

Those responsible for reviewing proposed research must ultimately weigh the risks and benefits to determine whether the relationship between them is acceptable. This process is complicated by the fact that risks and benefits often cannot be measured on a uniform scale. First, ‘risks and benefits for subjects may affect different domains of health status’, as when a risk of physical injury is incurred in an effort to achieve a potential psychological benefit. Second, ‘risks and benefits may affect different people’; risks are typically borne by the participants in the research, but most of the benefits will be experienced by patients in the future^[⁷^].

BS ISO 4980:2023

Benefit-risk assessment for sports and recreational facilities, activities and equipment

Current

Published:

31 May 2023