We are moving towards it because people are worried that it will be forced upon us, either by the need to get insurance or because of government regulation of our public lands. I feel that it is important to hold the certification proposal up to a bright light. We should scrutinize it to make sure that we are in fact going to bring in a safer, better program a program that will bring more people to our doors. It has more to do with the clients safety which is ultimately beneficial to the industry. Non-certification is our best chance of not killing people.
Certification is our best chance of getting insurance.
I realize that these are inflammatory statements but raise them to get us thinking. Certification can reduce personal responsibility of program directors for the marginal guide. Without certification the responsibility for a good safe program rests on the shoulders of the program director who must make the difficult decision to fire an unsafe guide because the responsibility will eventually rest with them. By instituting a certification program it will make it easier to not fire that marginal guide who is good with clients and works hard around the office. It makes it easier to escape the responsibility of making an accurate assessment of your system.