Risk Assessment Policy

Statement of Intent

ADL is committed to systematically identifying, evaluating, and controlling risks associated with all operations, with a primary focus on international travel, sports showcases, trials, and scholarship placements for under-18 athletes. Because international sports travel involves fluid environments, this policy establishes a dual-layer approach: structured proactive risk assessments prior to departure, combined with mandatory dynamic risk assessment skills deployed on the ground by staff in real time.

1. Proactive (Static) Risk Assessment

Before any international tour, trial, showcase, or training camp, the Lead Event Manager or Designated Safety Officer completes a formal written risk assessment using ADL's 5-step matrix:

• —Identify hazards - evaluate accommodation, travel routes, pitch conditions, climate/heat, food hygiene, local security, and medical access.
• —Determine who might be harmed - account for young athletes, staff, chaperones, and volunteers.
• —Evaluate the risk level - calculate initial risk ratings using the risk matrix.
• —Implement control measures - apply mandatory controls to reduce risk to an acceptable level (As Low As Reasonably Practicable).
• —Document & review - communicate findings to all travelling staff, parents, and participants prior to departure.

Risk Rating

Risk is rated by combining likelihood (unlikely / possible / likely) with severity (slight harm / moderate harm requiring a medical visit / severe harm requiring hospitalisation). Where a rating comes out High or Extreme, the activity cannot proceed without additional mandatory control measures to bring the score down.

2. Dynamic Risk Assessment

Environmental factors, weather, local civil conditions, and athlete fatigue change rapidly during international deployments. All travelling staff, coaches, and tour leaders are legally empowered and required to conduct dynamic risk assessments continuously, using this decision loop when an unexpected situation arises (e.g. a sudden electrical storm, pitch surface degradation, or a local security advisory):

• —Evaluate the environment - continuously scan surroundings.
• —Recognise the new hazard.
• —Identify who is at risk.
• —Decide and implement action - pause, modify (e.g. move indoors, mandate water breaks), or cancel/evacuate.
• —Document and debrief - record the decision in the tour logbook within 12 hours and brief the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Staff Empowerment & Stop-Work Authority

Any ADL staff member, coach, or chaperone has full authority to suspend a trial, match, or transit if they judge conditions to present an unmanaged safety hazard, with zero retaliation for doing so. Commercial considerations - flight bookings, trial schedules, showcase deadlines - never override a dynamic decision to pause or cancel an unsafe activity.