Category: News
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This month the ABC is launching a new webinar series, building on our 2024 conference theme of ‘Scaling Success’, and focused on some of the common challenges and ambitions of climbing walls. We will be bringing together expert speakers from our Board, partner organisations and beyond, to provide insights, advice and solutions on a range of topics.
ACCIDENT RESEARCH: INSIGHTS AND ACTIONS
28 November 10-11am.
Our first webinar offers an exclusive look at ABC research data on indoor climbing accidents. Join Kath Hipwell (CEO) and Dan Crossdale (Depot General Manager, ABC Board Safety Lead) as they take you through the findings of the ABC’s accident research, exploring the reasons behind indoor climbing accidents and opening up for a discussion on how walls can mitigate against them.
IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY: GRASSROOTS TO TEAM GB
11 December 7-8pm
We are thrilled to be joined by Hannah Baldwin, two-time World Paraclimbing Champion and GB Paraclimbing coach. In conversation with El Temple, ABC’s EDI Manager, Hannah will draw on her climbing and coaching expertise as well as her climbing centre manager experience, to guide you through the ways climbing walls can become more inclusive and accessible for disabled people, from setting for paraclimbers to the potential funding that is on offer.
This session is open to ABC members and will be an open, collaborative conversation with shared problem-solving. We encourage you to send your questions and challenges in advance to [email protected].
Upcoming webinars to look out for:
- Route Setter CPD (RSD Members only)
- Marketing your climbing wall
- ABC Accreditation – key principles
- Intro to the ABC (run regularly for new members)
Contact us if there are other topics you would like us to cover in future!
Over the last few months the ABC has received a number of inquiries from climbing centres looking for advice around what they should and should not be reporting under RIDDOR.
Confusion stems from a few different areas, with walls reporting conflicting advice from relevant authorities, as well as the recent updates to the RIDDOR submission forms.
What is RIDDOR
RIDDOR, or the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, is a UK law that requires employers, the self-employed, and managers of work premises to report certain workplace incidents. These include work related accidents, occupational diseases, dangerous occurrences and gas-related incidents.
RIDDOR helps authorities like the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigate and prevent future incidents by requiring detailed reports of such events.
RIDDOR is primarily a tool for reporting workplace accidents, and its use in that context is relatively well defined. Instead confusion tends to focus on whether accidents which involve the public and/or stem from climbing related activities should be reported.
The ABC’s position on accidents which stem from climbing related activities
Accidents involving the general public:
In general, accidents which occur through general participation in sporting activities, such as climbing, are not reportable under RIDDOR. However any accident where equipment failure, or failings in the management of the activities played a contributing role, should be reported.
Specifically, under ‘Examples of reportable incidents’, the HSE states:
‘Q. Are sporting injuries reportable?
A. No, if the injury arose out of the normal participation of the activity. Injuries should be reported if they were due to defective equipment or failings in the organisation and management of an event.’
While this is reasonably clear, and can be applied in most circumstances, wall owners/managers must still exercise their judgement over what does and does not constitute ‘normal participation’ and ‘failings in organisation and management’ when it comes to the specific circumstances of the accident.
Accidents involving staff:
Accidents involving staff should be reported under RIDDOR if they:
- Result in death or serious injury related to work activities.
- Cause an employee or self-employed instructor to be unable to work for over seven consecutive days.
- Also involve a member of the public who is injured and taken directly to hospital.
- Involve a dangerous occurrence, such as structural or equipment failure.
Deferring to relevant bodies
It is important to note that this is general advice. If you have received conflicting information or guidance from a relevant party, such as your local Environmental Health Office or insurer, the ABC advises that you follow that guidance.
Further guidance
The ABC publishes and maintains a collection of guideline documents with the intention of ensuring an excellent and consistent level of operational safety across the climbing industry. The ABC guidelines outline a series of industry standards and make recommendations based on the experience of ABC members, BS EN Standards and relevant legislation and publications.
These guidelines are available to ABC members from the Member Downloads area. If you have a question on any aspect of the guidance, please get in touch.
If you are interested in joining the ABC click here.
The RSD, in collaboration with a working group of experts from across the industry, has created new route setting training pathways with a respected quality mark. This will enable setters to gain a recognised and meaningful qualification and help walls and employers to understand setters’ skills and experience to support fairer and more open recruitment.
The new pathways will go live in January 2025, starting with boulder setting and followed later in the year with roped setting. In the meantime, our existing courses will continue to run and setters can sign up to get qualified under either system.
RSD SETTING PATHWAYS EXPLAINER
I’m a setter, what do I need to do?
- If you will already be qualified by Jan 2025 – nothing until your assessments are up for revalidation.
- If you will be partway through your qualification journey by Jan 2025 – continue with your training and assessments. When the new pathway launches, you’ll be able to move over to finish outstanding training and assessments under the new system.
- If you’ve not yet started training – you can book onto existing courses and then move onto the new system.
Important: If you will be taking any courses in 2025 onwards, you will need to have completed Route Setting Basics. We are endorsing Impact Route Setting’s “Route Setting Essentials” as a Route Setting Basics course which you can take online now to get a head start.
Further questions
If you have further questions, the ABC team is here to help. We will be holding a Q&A webinar on 15th August, 10-11. If possible please send questions to [email protected] in advance.
The Association of British Climbing Walls is taking steps to enhance diversity within the climbing industry by offering a number of free tickets to the 2024 Conference to those who are part of the global majority and disabled people.
The scheme is open to people of the global majority and disabled people who work or are aspiring to work in the climbing industry, as underrepresented groups which face substantial barriers to entry and career progression. By reducing the financial barrier to attending this national event, we aim to support the attendance of people of the global majority and disabled people.
At the ABC, our core remit is to support the professionalism, growth, safety and diversity of indoor climbing. Our goal is to ensure that our conference represents diverse perspectives and experiences, to enrich the development of the sector and lead to long-term, lasting change.
How to apply
The scheme is open to individuals with a link to the climbing industry, who identify as being a member of one of these underrepresented groups and would otherwise be self-funding their ticket.
To apply, please contact our EDI Manager El Temple, [email protected] with a short introduction to your current role or aspirations within the climbing industry.
If you can comfortably afford tickets to the ABC conference, please consider the needs of those who may benefit from this opportunity, as there are a limited number of tickets available.
The ABC has recently published the new Operational Guidelines Part 3: Safeguarding. This forms the newest part of the ABC Operational Guidelines, which are produced to support an excellent and consistent level of operational safety across the climbing industry.
In response to member feedback and growing demand within the industry, the ABC has worked with partners including the BMC, Mountaineering Ireland and Mountaineering Scotland to publish this set of guidance, which is informed by relevant legislation and expert organisations such as the NSPCC.
Safeguarding children and adults at risk is a fundamental part of running any climbing wall facility. Getting safeguarding right will enable wider participation and ensure safe access for everyone.
To meet ABC safeguarding standards, all members should follow these guidelines and have the relevant documents and processes in place, examples of which are provided for you within the guidelines and as separate downloads.
You will find all Operational Guidelines within the Member Downloads section of our website.
Your Questions Answered
You are invited to join Dean Straw, ABC Board Safeguarding Lead and members of the ABC team for a Safeguarding Guidance Q&A on 26th June, 10-11.30am (drop in).
We welcome all questions, clarifications and suggestions on the guidance and ways that we can develop it in future iterations. Please send any questions in advance to [email protected].
The next ABC Conference looks set to be another unmissable event in the climbing industry calendar as we announce some of the incredible speakers who will be joining us on stage in September!
Garnet Moore, Executive Director of the Climbing Wall Association, will be sharing insights from USA on professionalising the climbing industry.
Gavin Heverly, Founder and Principal of Rise Above Consulting will be talking through how to take strategic control of your revenue.
Finally, we’re thrilled that Molly Thomspon-Smith, pro climber for Team GB, will not only be joining us for a special panel discussing how to unlock the commercial potential of climbing competitions – she’ll also be taking the creative reins of our team climbing challenge and holds showcase at Depot Sheffield.
Molly says:
“I’m really excited for the opportunity to bring a more inclusive and collaborative style to competition climbing. I want everyone to experience the social buzz, challenge and unique atmosphere that make comp climbing different from your average visit to the wall!”
Learn more about our speakers, agenda programme and get your tickets here.
We can’t wait to get started!
The Association of British Climbing Walls’ annual conference will take place on the 19-20th September at the Magna Science Adventure Centre, with an exciting new team climbing event at Depot Sheffield on the evening of the 19th.
This year’s conference will focus on ‘Scaling Success’ – from running comps to cafes and everything in between!
We are pleased to announce a range of opportunities to showcase your brand to climbing wall owners, managers, route setters, instructors, marketeers and more.
BOOK AN EXHIBITION STAND
Our last few exhibition stands are available to book at £1050 for a 3x3m space.
To see what is included in the exhibition package and view the floor plan, please view the brochure here.
SHOWCASE YOUR HOLDS IN ACTION
Showcase your best holds in action by sponsoring a bloc at our brand new climbing event at Depot Sheffield on the Thursday evening. Join us for a team climbing challenge hosted by team GB Olympic climber Molly Thompson-Smith. Bloc sponsors will be announced on the night, have in-situ branding and be included on all evening collateral.
£150+VAT per bloc (max two available per brand).
For any enquiries, please email [email protected].
SPONSOR A ROUND TABLE
We will be putting on a number of round table sessions to address key challenges shared by our members and the climbing sector more broadly.
See the list of possible topics here and contact [email protected] to find out more about hosting a session.
BESPOKE OPPORTUNITIES
Looking for something different? Contact [email protected].
MOUNTAIN TRAINING PRESS RELEASE:
Mountain Training continues to support indoor climbing walls through this latest release of its guidance for site-specific training schemes, which has been updated to reflect developments in good practice.
Site-specific training schemes are used by some indoor climbing walls and other artificial climbing walls to ensure the competency of their staff. In some instances it can be a more tailored and accessible route to demonstrating competence than requiring staff hold a national climbing instructor qualification, such as Climbing Wall Instructor.
The guidance is designed to be used by competent persons/technical advisors and climbing walls to develop and deliver unique site-specific training schemes and it has been endorsed by the Association of British Climbing Walls, BMC (British Mountaineering Council), Mountaineering Ireland and Mountaineering Scotland.
Guy Jarvis, Executive Officer for Mountain Training England said, “Mountain Training recognises the important role of site-specific endorsement and we hope this refreshed guidance provides support to those designing and delivering bespoke training to wall and centre staff, that is fit for purpose.
“We know many people who receive site-specific training often go on to complete a national qualification and we’re currently finalising the details of a Bouldering Wall Instructor qualification which will be launched in October. This will provide an additional option for the sector and has been developed in response to demand from walls and the individuals who work in them.”
Kath Hipwell, Chief Executive Officer at the Association of British Climbing Walls said, “We welcome this updated guidance from Mountain Training to support climbing walls in delivering high quality training that is both standardised and specifically relevant to their own centre and how it is used.”
– Mountain Training
We’re excited to announce the ABC’s upcoming Accreditation Scheme and with it the new, Sport England funded, role of Accreditation Manager who will be responsible for developing and piloting the programme.
The Accreditation Scheme is an important tool to support the industry in following good practice, maintaining high safety standards and striving for excellence to keep the sector and those participating in it safe and free to enjoy the sport of climbing.
This is a full time role combining desk-based research with site visits and audits. We anticipate that up to half of the working time will be on the road.
Mountain Training works in partnership with the indoor climbing industry to produce the instructors and coaches of the future. In order to do this our candidates need to gain experience in managing and assisting group sessions in walls as a crucial part of their training.
Trainees can also be very useful. They can act as an extra pair of hands and eyes, even if this is only to fit a harnesses, hold a rope or manage a simple warm up. They can provide some useful feedback for the instructor even though they are there to learn themselves (some come with a lot of experience from other sports or teaching for example). Best of all it is an excellent staff recruitment tool with in-built observation, induction and site-specific assessment.
Managing trainees requires special operating procedures and some basic administration, but this is relatively easy to set up and advice is easily sought. Mountain Training has published its own ‘Guidance for managing assistants during climbing activities’ here: https://www.mountain-training.org/help/downloads
We would ask climbing wall managers that use Mountain Training qualified instructors and coaches to please work with us, and thereby support the indoor climbing industry, by offering these experiences that trainees need to develop their skills – where possible. If there are any concerns or difficulties we would be only too eager to learn about these and to help you with these if we can.
Many thanks.
Guy Jarvis, Exec Officer, MTE
