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ZIP LINE ACCIDENTS / REPORTS / PROSECUTIONS

This site is a gate-way for all professional Guides who work on or operate a Zip line (flying fox).

The number of accidents with zip line operations is increasing at an alarming rate.

As a professional Guide, you can do something about this!

If you think your employer isn't providing proper and thorough staff training, you should speak up.

Are you being provided with PPE that is fit for its intended purpose?

How regularly do staff undertake rescue and other skill proficiency training?

 

If you knowingly turn a blind eye to safety issues - then you are actually part of the problem.

 

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The documents on this site are in Adobe PDF file format.

NOTE:

Documents in PDF file format require the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. It is a free download.

Link: https://get.adobe.com/reader (be sure to select your operating system - eg windows or MAC O/S)

 

To download and save Adobe PDF files, right click and select "Save target as". You will then be asked to select a folder to save the file to. 

All of these documents are the intellectual property of various authors, consultants and OHS / WHS authorities. Your 'rights' to use these documents is confined only to your immediate efforts to learn about risk management and how accidents are caused. You may not use these documents for commercial gain and/or profit. Using these documents for commercial gain and/or profit without consent is a crime known as stealing and may result in legal action by the author of the content.

 

ZIP LINE CASE LEARNING MATERIAL

 

DOCUMENT

DATE

SUMMARY

SIZE

1

VWA v Bass straight views

Oct 2004

A 9 year old girl fell approximately 12m from a launch platform when her attachment hardware (carabiner/connector) released from her harness.
After being initially attached to the zip line, the girl was then left unattended and unsupervised when she fell.

The girl suffered serious injuries and was admitted to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria.
The operator of the zip line (Bass Straight Views) was convicted and fined $35,000.

 

2

VWA v Warren Maxwell Williams

Feb 2007

A student (child) launched on the zip line and then crashed into a scissor lift (a type of elevating work platform) at the dismount termination end. The scissor lift was used to release customers from the zip line so they could dismount and safely exit. The child launched on the zip line before a previous customer was released and the scissor lift moved out of the way.

The student was knocked unconscious from the impact and suffered skull and brain injuries. The student was taken to hospital and placed into a medically induced coma. The student eventually made a full recovery.

The operator of the zip line (Warren Maxwell Williams) was convicted and fined $10,000.

 

3

OSHA fine USA

15 July 2015

Darrell Gilley (54 year old employee) attempted to grab a customer who rebounded at the end termination (dismount end) of the zip line. Darrell clung to the customer and they both rebounded away from the platform. Unable to hold on, Darrell fell approximately 150 feet to his death.

 

4

OSHA fine USA

Oct 2014

OSHA cites Maui zip line owner and operator for employee death. Patricia Rabellizsa (29 year old employee) tragically died as a result of a fall from a platform. She was not using PPE to prevent a fall (her employer regarded fall protection as optional). Patricia fell approximately 150 feet.

5

OSHA fine USA

2012

A zip line support tower in Hawaii catastrophically collapsed when the ground (in soil) anchors failed. One employee of 'Gozip' was killed and another seriously injured.
Gozip received 3 separate citations and fines for various breaches of Hawaii OSHA laws.

 

6

GoApe Accident report

2016

Tina Werner fell approximately 35 feet to her death from a transfer platform owned and operated by GoApe (a challenge rope course and zip line site in Delware USA).
Tina was a customer (not an employee/Guide).
All customers are issued with PPE and given a safety induction briefing and demonstrations in how to use their PPE correctly.
After completing their safety induction, customers are then able to use the challenge ropes course facility - with no direct staff (employee) supervision.
It is assumed that customers will be proficient in the use of their PPE and not make inadvertent errors.
The double (ie twin-tail) lanyards that were issued were not of the 'communicating' type where it is impossible to remove both connectors at the same time. The issued double lanyards could be misused by simple inadvertence or a lapse of concentration. One needs to keep in mind that paying customers are not experts, and they don't have high levels of skill.

It is not known if GoApe have since changed the type of double lanyards they issue to customers.

 

7

Zip line collision Thailand

2015

Lisa Sayre (customer) collided at high speed with another customer (Hazel) who was still on the zip line.
The cable span was very long - and supervising staff did not have direct line-of-sight visual contact from the launch platform to the receiving platform. Hand-held radios were used for staff communication.

Both customers sustained severe injuries as a result of the force of the collision - with Lisa Sayre in particular suffering major head injuries, broken ribs and the loss of sight in her right eye.

 

8

R v Clark [2007] QCA 168

2007

Lucy Keen (customer) suffered horrific injuries when she fell approximately 20m from a platform on a zip line on 29 May 2004.

Steve Jay Clark (Guide) who was employed by 'Jungle Surfing Tours' was held by the QLD Supreme Court of Appeal to be criminally negligent.

The Guide (Steve Clark) failed to attach Lucy to a safety line or zip line mobile attachment device.
This is the first case in Australia where a professional Guide was convicted and sentenced to prison.

Lucy has permanent brain damage and requires constant care for the rest of her life.

 

9

QLD Workcover 11Mar2019

11 Mar 2019

In July 2016 a women (customer) suffered serious injuries when she initially collided with an employee Guide and then a tree. The line attached to a magnetic deceleration device snapped and failed to arrest the forward momentum of the customer.

The operator of the zip line was fined $40,000.

 

10

Zip line failure Mexico

April 2016

Heather Gladden suffered serious soft tissue injuries when the zip line she was riding on catastrophically failed. Heather plummeted several hundred feet yet miraculously survived because the handlebar she was holding onto snagged on a tree branch. Heather was trapped hanging upside down from the tree for approximately 20 minutes until she was rescued.
The operator of the zip line denied that the zip line had failed.

 

 

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