Phil Geng

Fresh from the first Good Practice Safety Management Conference run by the Mountain Training Association (MTA) in Lancaster last weekend I can't help but conclude that it is time to raise the professional bar for all of us instructors. Most of us will have come across at least one black sheep of our industry and have spotted them with relative ease. But how many of us have seriously thought about the way we conduct ourselves and run our operations? Out of the Mountain Training affiliated associations only the British Mountain Guides (BMG) and the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML) have currently implemented a Code of Professional Conduct which includes tried and tested procedures for dealing with incidents and complaints. In both cases the fact that the organisations are recognised world wide and belong to a wider global network has had an influence on this development.

It is crucial to understand that in the case of the BMG (somebody please let me know about BAIML for this), complaints can be made by anybody, not just clients of the guides in question. Further, anybody wishing to work as a guide not only has to hold the carnet, but also be a member of the British Mountain Guides. Without said membership and the subsequent acceptance of the code of conduct, the guide cannot operate. This system is similar to BAIML where membership is required for working internationally. The concept could and should be transferred in some way onto the MTA without alienating the current membership, but I would like to reiterate that this is merely an idea in my own head at the moment and not necessarily the opinion of the MTA or any of its members.

The Concept

While I'm not suggesting that we make membership of one of the associations mandatory in order to work within the remit of our qualifications, I do feel that the MTA badge especially should receive a bit of a facelift in terms of what it stands for. My, arguably rather radical, idea therefore is to create a two-tiered membership system within the MTA and introduce some extra powers for Mountain Training as a whole.

Firstly we need to accept that some individuals, in fact the vast majority of award holders, don't currently affiliate with the MTA. This is entirely their choice, but they should still be reminded that through the award they are holding and potentially working under, they are representing a much wider community than just themselves.

Secondly there will be individuals who simply don't want to sign any binding codes of conduct and be part of such an, arguably professional, network. This again is entirely their choice and nobody should think any less of them, while at the same time they should be able to access the vast majority of services offered by the MTA.

Thirdly the sheer numbers involved in the MTA (4000+ members) compared to the BMG (200+ members) indicates that a code of conduct would only work and be enforceable if a volunteering onus was to be placed on signatories as outlined later.

The Idea

The current state of the membership benefits for members of the MTA:

Trainee membership

• Develop your skills with workshops and regional events
• Quarterly Joint Association Magazine - The Professional Mountaineer
• Membership discounts with various outdoor manufacturers and suppliers
• Access to a Regional Group for informal training and networking events
• Take advantage of on-line resources
• Access to the MTA Forum and the MTA Facebook Group
• Monthly Paramo garment prize draw
• Technical advice via dedicated email address
• Monthly e-newsletter with industry updates and news items

Full membership (as above plus)

• Access to a programme of accredited CPD opportunities to enhance your CV
• The facility to record your Continued Personal Development on-line
• Specially-negotiated rates for Civil Liability Insurance
• Listing and profile within the "Find A Leader" facility
• Website Plug-ins to show your Mountain Training Profile
• Use of the MTA logo to promote you and your business
• Use of a Membership badge

Membership to the MTA and the associated access to benefits and services should remain open to all. As such, the current Trainee membership would remain as it stands. The full membership would be sub-divided into an associate membership and a full membership with the price remaining identical, as the benefits gained by signing up to the code of conduct and becoming a full member are offset by the volunteering arrangement in relation to the professional standards process. Overall the benefits would outweigh the burden based on an economy of scale model.

The membership benefit system under my proposal, which includes the required agreement with the code of conduct:

Trainee membership - Has registered for an award and is in the period of training or consolidation.

• Develop your skills with workshops and regional events
• Quarterly Joint Association Magazine - The Professional Mountaineer
• Membership discounts with various outdoor manufacturers and suppliers
• Access to a Regional Group for informal training and networking events
• Take advantage of on-line resources
• Access to the MTA Forum and the MTA Facebook Group
• Monthly Paramo garment prize draw
• Technical advice via dedicated email address
• Monthly e-newsletter with industry updates and news items

Associate membership - Holds a Mountain Training or higher association award. (as above plus)

• Access to a programme of accredited CPD opportunities to enhance your CV
• The facility to record your Continued Personal Development on-line
• Website Plug-ins to show your Mountain Training Profile
• Access to the Code of Conduct with voting rights on any ratification of the code
• Access to the Professional standards process for serious incidents and accidents through voluntary self-referral

Full membership - Holds a current and up to date award, has signed to adhere to the Code of Conduct as set out by the membership of the MTA and has agreed to be part of the Professional standards process.

• Bound by Code of Conduct
• Active participation in the professional standards process (PSP)
• Mandatory referral of all incidents reportable under RIDDOR to the PSP
• Voluntary referral of all other incidents to the PSP
• Mandatory reporting of near miss and incident statistics once a year to the MTA
• Specially-negotiated rates for Civil Liability Insurance
• Listing and profile within the "Find A Leader" facility
• Use of the MTA logo to promote you and your business
• Use of the MTA Membership badge

The Code of Conduct

Unlike an operating procedure that outlines exactly what to do technically in any given situation, a code of conduct is more concerned with the soft-skill element of the delivery. Aside from obvious aspects such as courtesy towards the client, non-discrimination, safeguarding and privacy protection, aspects such as reporting incidents for outside investigation and making available statistics on incidents and near misses are important. Especially the latter could on the whole allow Mountain Training to tailor guidance and further improve the already excellent safety record the membership has built up.

The entire concept is based around the economies of scale. If one small company with a couple of instructors has two near misses a month, then on par that's not a lot. However, if 100 small companies with two instructors have 2 near misses a month, then this quickly adds up. The larger the sample size, the easier it is to spot trends and identify areas for improvement.

The Professional Standards Process

Any code of conduct must be upheld and enforced. In this concept the enforcement is based around a group of volunteers who accept a coordinating role for 2 years at a time. The purpose of this coordination group is to ensure a central point of contact exists for reports to be sent to and any reports being released back from the investigation are in accordance with the code of conduct. Throughout their time in the group the members are bound by confidentiality and impartiality relating to their role. However, this group would not carry out any investigations themselves. Instead they would call on the requirement for full members to participate actively and select, possibly at random, similarly qualified individuals to the one being investigated. The member presenting themselves for investigation would provide an honest and factual report of the incident with any relevant information included, but stripped of all reference to the place, individuals and timings (unless any of these are crucial to the outcome of the event). It then falls to these selected individuals to assess the reports in relation to their own experience and understanding and come up with a series of observations and where appropriate recommendations. These are then fed back via the coordination group to the instructor being investigated for final comments and remarks before being filed with the MTA. At regular intervals Mountain Training may decide to review the reports and outcomes to adjust practices or guidance.

The process bears some significant benefits. Firstly the coordination group at all times remains detached from the process and plays an administrative and supportive role for the member being investigated. This is important as any type of investigation after an incident is potentially stressful and can be a very lonely place to be. Secondly, the "investigators" remain anonymous to the member, allowing them to fully consider the evidence they have been provided with and make honest recommendations. While these have to be fair and considered, the anonymity will allow friends or even colleagues to be honest to each other without fear of repercussions outside of the MTA.

The Problems

There are, as with any new concept, a few significant issues that would have to be overcome before any such system can be put in place. The obvious paperwork has to be drafted up, checked, agreed, disseminated, discussed, adjusted, checked again and finally approved. Required processes have to be put in place including agreed ways of collaborating that don't require great expense to the membership or association. Consequences have to be discussed and approved with potential to include a suspension or even revoking of awards in extreme cases, possibly extendable to all award holders. A minimum consequence would have to be suspension from the full membership to associate, permanent removal of full membership status and eventually removal from the MTA.

All of these issues require a strong mandate from the membership and an agreement that without professional standards the MTA membership will not be able to raise the bar and compete with the Association of Mountaineering Instructors or British Mountain Guides. While these associations memberships are undoubtedly higher qualified, the vast majority of outdoor instructors do not affiliate with them. So let's make the MTA an organisation to be proud of, wearing the badge with honour and safe in the knowledge that if things do go belly up we have not only got a solid process for investigating the event, but also a support network of like minded people to help us through that time.

I would love to hear from you if you have any comments on the process, or would like to get involved in the breaking down of any of these hurdles. As a membership based organisation any work conducted by the membership is ultimately going to be valuable to the MTA as a whole. The more of us get involved, the better the chances for an amicable outcome and stronger representation in the industry.