Safety first, but not at the cost of fun! With these three key strategies, we’re transforming the mundane into the memorable.
Many operators are required to have risk assessments and safety management systems in place – particularly in activities such as water sports, snow sports, horse riding and bungee jumping – and training your guests on safe practices is a vital part of managing those risks. Unfortunately, the safety talk is often seen as a less-than-exciting part of the guest experience. Here are three key ways to ensure your guest safety talks are engaging, fully absorbed and always on point.
1) Start off with safety – but keep it engaging
Of course, you’ll be providing safety advice and guidelines at the very start of your guest experience. Your guests are feeling fresh and excited about your tour or activity, so it’s important to keep that energy up to help guests retain knowledge and enjoy the experience. Safety talks that involve physical demonstrations of equipment or visual cues can really help to improve recall, as can a healthy dose of humor – as long as it doesn’t dilute the seriousness of your safety measures.
2) Work to a safety protocol
When you might have multiple guides running your tours or activities, it’s absolutely essential to have robust safety training protocols in place. This means developing standardized documentation of all the important safety points to cover. With an established safety information process in place, it’s easier to assess the ability of any new staff to give this essential talk. Management can regularly check in to ensure safety talks are covering all the necessary points.
3) Verify your guest’s understanding
How can you be confident that guests have heard, comprehended and understood the risks of your tours or activities? Your liability waiver form can help. Wherewolf allows you to have waivers signed ahead of time or on the day, but if you want to be sure your guests have understood the risks and safety protocols you can include these in a digital waiver following your guest safety induction. For example, you could include a checklist in your liability waiver form that requires the participant to acknowledge their understanding of each individual point before they can submit their waiver and begin the amazing experience.