Cycling Proficiency Lessons Risk Assessment Template

Typical hazards & measures

• Mechanical failures en route — Carry tools, tubes and quick links, demonstrate safe roadside fixes off the carriageway, assign an instructor to shield the repair, and remove from traffic any bike with critical faults, completing a controlled walk-back if repair is not immediate.
• Narrow lanes and pinch points — Ride in primary position to deter unsafe passing, single-out well in advance, wait through constrictions, regroup beyond the hazard, and relocate if repeated driver pressure prevents holding a safe line through the narrow section.
• Rider competence and control — Begin off-road with start/stop, balance, signalling and shoulder checks, progress to quiet roads only when standards are met, and pause or step back any rider who cannot maintain a straight line while looking behind or signaling safely.
• Route planning and site assessment — Recce the area to choose low-complexity roads, map start/finish and bailout points, note shelters and first-aid access, avoid schools-out pinch points, share printed maps, and brief staff on the exact loop, stop sites and an abort plan before riders mount.
• Roadworks and temporary layouts — Recce the route on the day, brief how cones, narrowed lanes and temporary signals change priorities, ride primary through pinch points, and bypass any site with plant movements or blind chicanes so pupils learn adaptation to rapidly changing streets.