Risk Assessment & Safety Management: Safety I & Safety II in the COVID-19 Era

Rick Curtis

Rick Curtis is the Founder and CEO of IncidentAnalytix and OutdoorEd.com. He has been the Director of the Outdoor Action Program at Princeton University, one of the largest college outdoor orientation programs, for over 39 years. He developed the Risk Assessment and Safety Management Model (RASM) in 2001 as a primary tool for staff to assess and manage risk in the field. Rick is the author of The Backpacker's Field Manual published by Random House, used as a textbook by outdoor programs across the country.

The traditional Safety I approach to risk management focuses on what is going wrong and takes a ‘control mistakes’ approach. Safety II focuses on what is going right and works to ensure that those factors which create success are present in all programming. This webinar focuses on the Risk Assessment and Safety Management Model (RASM) through the lens of Safety I and Safety II. Many programs have big decisions to make immediately and over the next few months and being able to view those decisions through both a Safety I and Safety II lens is critical.

Download Files

Presentation PowerPoint for use in your program:
RASM Safety I Safety II for AEE Webinar April 2020 no video

MindMap of Orientation Program Decision Tree (PDF): Outdoor Orientation Decision Tree

Here are the main references from the Webinar:

AEE Webinar: Covid-19: Risk Management, Legal and Practical Issues While Navigating Uncertainty with Catherine Hansen-Stamp and Steve Smith – https://aee.memberclicks.net/covid-19–risk-management–legal-and-practical-issues-while-navigating-uncertainty
From Safety-I to Safety-II: A White Paper. Hollnagel, E. Hearns, R., Braithwaite, J. – EUROCONTROL (2013) – https://www.england.nhs.uk/signuptosafety/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2015/10/safety-1-safety-2-whte-papr.pdf
Proactive Risk Management in a Dynamic Society – Jens Rasmussen, Inge Svedung (2000) – https://www.msb.se/RibData/Filer/pdf/16252.pdf
UPLOADS Project, https://uploadsproject.org
Mangatepopo Gorge Accident Accimap – https://activeeducationmagazine.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/understanding-accidents-in-the-great-outdoors-the-human-factors-approach/
Safety-II: the brand new concept of the “complex” Swiss cheese model – CEFA Aviation: https://www.cefa-aviation.com/safety2-swiss-cheese-model/
Safety I vs Safety II: An overview – Safety4Sea.com – https://safety4sea.com/cm-safety-i-vs-safety-ii-an-overview/