Managing Risks for Visitors to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park
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Written by James Downie, Ranger Manager for the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, renowned for its stunning landscapes and diverse wildlife, attracts millions of visitors each year. Ensuring the safety of these visitors while they are on our sites exploring the Park's natural beauty is a critical task, requiring comprehensive risk management strategies.
Visitor Safety
Visitor safety is a high priority within the Park Authority. The rugged terrain, variable weather conditions, and diverse activities such as hiking, boating, and camping can pose potential hazards as well as the varying level of experience among visitors. The National Park Authority’s focus is on the visitor sites we own or actively manage.
Risk Assessing
Visitor and Site Risk Assessments are conducted to identify potential dangers and develop mitigation strategies. These assessments cover everything from infrastructure and path conditions to water safety. Site Risk Assessments focus on our built infrastructure and how we keep it compliant and in good order to reduce any hazards our infrastructure may cause. Visitor Risk Assessments focus on how our visitors interact with our sites and each other and where those interactions may pose hazards.
It is important when we are risk assessing sites that we do not remove every sense of freedom. Many visitors come to the Park to enjoy an adventure and take part in activities that have an element of controlled risk. As with many things, when developing an approach or strategy collaborating with others is key. As an organisation we looked to learn from the experience of others. We have collaborated with industry leaders such as Water Safety Scotland, RNLI, local authorities, FLS and our emergency services among others and became members of the Visitor Safety Group (VSG). We found that by adopting the VSG approach and using tools such as their Risk Control Matrix, it helped us be more confident in finding a balance between risk and benefit. The VSG matrix gives examples of visitor expectation and likely levels of their skill, self-reliance, and personal responsibility. Visitors to sites that are highly managed expect to be safe, have guidance on their safety and will be less confident and less self-reliant. Visitors to remote hills for example will have a greater sense of responsibility for their own safety so less guidance and mitigation is appropriate.
In preparing our Site and Visitor Risk Assessments we follow the VSG guidance of 'no nasty surprises'. To balance the naturalness of the site, visitors’ access rights and highlighting any hidden hazards the Park follows the VSG guiding principles. These are:
- Take account of conservation, heritage, recreation, cultural and landscape objectives.
- Avoid taking away people’s sense of freedom and adventure.
- Avoid restrictions on access.
- Ensure that your visitors know the risks they face.
- Expect visitors to exercise some responsibility for themselves.
- Strike a balance between visitor self-reliance and management intervention.
- Assess risks and develop safety plans for your sites.
- Take account of the benefits that your site provides.
When our Site and Visitor Risk Assessments are complete, the Park then has a comprehensive picture of the significant hazards on each site and identified controls and mitigations to address these hazards and reduce risk to our visitors.
Multi Agency Incident Response Group Plans: The Park has comprehensive emergency response plans for Loch Lomond, including rescue operations and coordination with local emergency services. Elements of this plan have been adopted by Water Safety Scotland and a guidance document developed to encourage other areas to follow best practice.
Public Awareness Campaigns: Campaigns are launched periodically to raise awareness about specific risks, such as tick-borne diseases, and being prepared or the dangers of cold-water shock in the lochs.
Facility Maintenance: Regular inspection and maintenance of paths, infrastructure, and other facilities ensures they remain safe for public use.
Information and Signage: Where appropriate, clear and informative signs are placed throughout the Park to guide visitors on safe pathways, highlight potential hazards, and provide emergency contact information.
Weather Warnings: Given Scotland's unpredictable weather, the Park provides real-time weather updates and warnings to help visitors prepare appropriately.
Ranger Service: The presence of our Ranger Service offers both a sense of security and a point of contact for safety advice. Rangers are trained to handle emergencies and provide first aid.
Educational Programs: The Park runs educational programs and workshops to inform visitors about safe practices. Elements of this program have been adopted by Water Safety Scotland and a guidance document developed to encourage other areas to follow best practice.
Find out more about spending time in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park here.
The Visitor Safety Group
The Visitor Safety Group (VSG) plays a key role in helping inform our approach to enhancing visitor safety at Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. The VSG is a collaborative network that brings together a wide variety of knowledge and experience from organisations who are actively involved in managing sites with visitor safety in mind while balancing the visitor experience, access rights and conservation. They work to achieve this by:
Sharing Best Practices: By sharing insights and best practices, the VSG helps standardise safety protocols across different sites.
Training and Development: The group organises training sessions for staff and volunteers, ensuring they are well-prepared to manage safety issues effectively.
Innovative Solutions: The VSG promotes the use of innovative technologies and methodologies to enhance safety, such as GPS tracking for hikers and real-time safety alerts.
Research and Evaluation: Continuous research and evaluation help the VSG to identify emerging risks and update safety measures accordingly.
Managing risks for visitors to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is a dynamic and ongoing process. Through a combination of proactive measures, effective communication, and collaborative efforts the park strives to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for all our visitors.
VSG Membership
VSG is a group run for and by its members to meet their needs. It provides a focal point of knowledge, expertise and proven good practice for managing visitor safety. This information is made through webinars, site visits, newsletters, e-zines and publications.
A key feature is the sharing of problems and solutions through a powerful networking group. With a broad spread of members, it is likely that someone else has dealt with the issues you might encounter. By working together, it offers a consistent approach, which helps visitors, and presents a coherent view to government and its agencies, like the Health and Safety Executive. To learn more about VSG and benefits of membership visit www.visitorsafety.group/about-us.
VSG Publications
The VSG ‘Managing Visitor Safety in the Countryside’ publication can be purchased online here. It includes key principles and practice on:
- Balancing the benefits and risks of visitor to the countryside
- Techniques to minimise the risks without spoiling the landscape
- Meeting our responsibilities without taking away people’s sense of freedom and adventure.
The VSG publication on ‘Managing Visitor Safety in the Historic Built Environment’ can also be purchased here. In this publication, VSG shows how the principles can be specifically applied in the historic built environment. This is defined as buildings, monuments, archaeological remains, other man-made structures and designed parks and gardens that are historic places of significance.