Hazard maps
You’ll need
- Map of the campsite (or paper)
- Safety information sheet
- Safety chart sheet
- Dressing up clothes like hard hats and high vis jackets (optional)
- Clipboards (optional)
Chat about safety
- The person leading the game should help everyone to talk about safety at camp. Why is it important to stay safe at camp? How can you take care of yourself when you’re at camp?
- Everyone should understand a bit more about some of the potential hazards on camp, and how they can keep themselves and their friends safe.
Be a safety inspector
- Split into pairs. The person leading the activity should give each team a map of the campsite or a piece of paper, so pairs can make their own map of the main features such as buildings.
- Everyone should agree a time and place to meet again, and then pairs should set out to explore the campsite. They should look out for potential hazards and mark them on their map. As they search, pairs should talk about why things are a hazard and what they could do to make it safer for everyone.
- Everyone should join back together in one big group. A few people in the group should volunteer to be the writers – they need to take a copy of the safety chart and a pen.
- Everyone should walk around the campsite once more, together this time.
- Whenever the group comes near a hazard a pair marked on their map, the pair should tell everyone what they found, why they think it’s a hazard, and what they could do to make it better. Everyone should talk about any other ideas they may have.
- The people who’ve volunteered to be the writers should note the ideas down on the chart. This is like a simple version of a mini risk assessment, which people leading activities or camps have to do before the activity or camp starts, to help everyone stay safe.
Reflection
This activity helped you to gain a range of skills. Do you know more about keeping yourself (and your friends) safe on camp? What was the most interesting thing you learned? Do you feel more confident about avoiding hazards now? Where else could you spot hazards - maybe at home or at school? What should you do if you spot a hazard (it’s often better to tell an adult than try to fix it yourself)?
This activity was also an opportunity to be a team player. Did you work well together in your pair? Was it easy to decide which way to go? Did you each have different skills? How about in the bigger group? What happened if more than one pair had spotted a hazard they wanted to talk about? Did you make sure every pair had a chance to talk? How did you decide who would write? Did you make sure you looked out for them to be ready before you moved on?
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
- Outdoor activities
You must have permission to use the location. Always check the weather forecast, and inform parents and carers of any change in venue.
Depending on your group, you may want to give examples that directly match the hazards groups can find wherever you are (for example a campfire if there’s a campfire circle). Alternatively, you may want to ask them to come up with more abstract examples (for example, that anything hot could cause burns) and apply this to the campsite they’re exploring.
Not everyone needs to write things down – pairs can just use simple drawings to mark their map, and don’t have to volunteer to be a writer.
If anyone in your group has accessibility needs, check out the site before the group sets off. They should be able to get to all of the potential hazards. You may need to set things up to represent hazards if there are any that they can’t access.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
