Inspector Guidance Notes

This area of the site contains internal operational guidance for AALS inspectors.  It may be of interest and use to activity providers and potential participants.

If you have any questions which are not answered in this part of the site or in FAQs, please feel free to contact us.

Inspector Guidance Notes (IGN) are jointly prepared by the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA) and the Adventure Activities Licensing Service (AALS) and are intended primarily for use by AALS inspectors to aid consistency of approach. They are not primarily intended for public distribution but are made available as an aid to providers and others who have an interest in the operation of the adventure activities licensing regime.

These notes are, in most cases, based on the documents known as Collective Interpretations which were prepared by the then AALA. Following the transfer of the AALA to HSE, the collective interpretations are gradually being reviewed and revised as needed. As this process is completed, the Collective Interpretations will become known as Inspector Guidance Notes.  They will be given new numbers to make it clear that they have been revised and reissued.

The Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations 2004 are goal-setting in their nature and do not give explicit detail regarding all aspects of adventure activity licensing and activity provision. New activities arise over time and existing activities evolve. These changes and the benefit of experience have given rise to these Guidance Notes which seek to assist consistent, proportionate and transparent application of the general principles and intent of the regulations on the ground. These notes may be used as a basis for formal decisions (eg when deciding the duration of a licence or determining a representation by a provider about a decision).

These notes are, in many cases, the result of discussions following questions raised by various sectors or providers. Where appropriate, they also take account of the lessons learned from accidents, incidents and the findings of inquiries.

The Guidance Notes are not legally definitive as they are not part of the regulations and ultimately only a Court can interpret the law definitively. The intention is to assist inspectors in understanding and interpreting the regulations. The subject matter is very wide-ranging.

It is inevitable that thinking can change on issues as knowledge grows or other factors come to light, particularly from incidents and accidents. This can mean changes or additions to the guidance notes. As changes occur then existing Guidance Notes will be reviewed or revised and new ones may be written. Licensing Service inspectors will be issued with the new or amended version.

Guidance

• Guidance Section 1 - General Interpretation
• Guidance Section 4 - Schools
• Guidance Section 5 - Qualifications and Technical Advisers
• Guidance Section 6 - Technical Issues
• Guidance Section 7 - Equipment
• Guidance Section 8 - Management topics

Notes

1. In the Guidance Notes, the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority is referred to as AALA. The Health and Safety Executive became the AALA on 1 April 2007.
2. The publication 'Guidance from the Licensing Authority on the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations 2004' is referred to as L77 and references to paragraph numbers in L77 refer to the 2007 edition of L77. L77 can be obtained from HSE Books - ISBN 978-0-7176-6243-2
3. The Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations 2004 are referred to as AALR. References to regulation numbers refer to the AALR 2004.