Risk-based approach and continuous improvement

This page contains a general description of leisure service providers' obligations under the Consumer Services Act 185/2025. For more detailed instructions, see Tukes instructions Safety in Consumer Services.

Continuous monitoring and improvement of safety

The service provider must continuously monitor safety, any safety deficiencies, and accidents and near misses in the service they provide. The service provider must assess how well the safety measures are implemented and if they successfully ensure the safety of the service. The service provider must take the necessary corrective measures based on their observations.

The purpose of continuous monitoring and improvement is to ensure that the service provider always possesses correct information about the safety situation of the service, that any safety deficiencies are detected in time, and that they are addressed early and correctly. Correct monitoring can help prevent customer accidents. Continuous monitoring of safety stresses the fact that safety work must be carried out every day.

Documents related to the continuous monitoring of safety may include instructions and forms for logging safety observations, practices for reporting and processing safety deviations reported by customers, accident records, or internal or external safety audits of the service.

Risk-based application of obligations

The Act imposes the same obligations on all service providers. Not all services are the same, however, and measures of different nature and scope are required to ensure customer safety.

The service provider's measures and safety practices must be appropriate and sufficient for the service in question but also reasonable. The higher the risk of the service, the more carefully safety must be ensured.

When assessing the need for and adequacy of measures, the following issues should be accounted for:

  1. Type and nature of the service: The measures must effectively address the risks typical of a specific service. Acceptable risk levels vary in services of different nature, particularly depending on how actively the user participates in the service performance.
  2. Results of hazard identification and risk assessment: The measures must target the activities of a specific service provider. Consequently, this is about how the service provider in question delivers their service, not just about what operators in the sector usually do. The risk identification and risk assessment must be carried out carefully, and they must lead to practical measures aiming to reduce risks and improve safety at the specific service venue in question.
  3. Scale of the service: If a large number of users participate in the service at the same time or it is delivered across a large area, the service provider must plan and implement measures for managing these features and reducing the risks arising from the scale of the service. Similarly, if the service is delivered in a small space and to one customer at a time, there is no need for such measures.
  4. Conditions of the service: The measures must be proportionate to the current conditions and to the physical, psychological and social environment in which the service users participate in the service.  This means that, where appropriate, weather conditions, topography and the suitability of the space for the needs of the service must be accounted for when planning the service. Social and psychological factors should also be addressed where appropriate, including urgency, stress, group pressure and fear, if they could affect the safety of the service. The service provider must also prepare for changes in conditions.
  5. Special features of service users and those directly affected by the service: The service provider must address the special features of service users and persons directly affected by the service, including young or old age, intellectual disability, reduced mobility or lack of language skills. Similarly, experienced enthusiasts, active service users or users who have taken part in a sport for a long time do not necessarily need the same amount of safety measures, instruction or guidance. It is essential that the service provider is familiar with the service users and adapts the service delivery to different user groups' needs, also taking into account the needs of particularly vulnerable groups.