Cycling Proficiency Lessons Risk Assessment Template

Typical hazards & measures

• Aggressive or distracted drivers — De-escalate by moving to safe refuge, record details when safe, teach riders not to engage, and alter the route if repeated hostility occurs, reviewing timings and features that may be provoking conflict with local driver expectations.
• 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.
• Separation or lost rider — Use buddies, numbered subgroups and fixed rendezvous points, headcount at each stop, brief “stop, dismount, wait in view” if separated, and deploy a rear instructor to collect stragglers before the plan advances to the next feature.
• 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.
• Junctions and turns — Teach look-assess-decide-act with clear shoulder checks, early signals and lane positioning, rehearse primary/secondary road positions, approach in single file then fan out for visibility, and abandon any turn if sightlines or gaps are not adequate for the group.