Tourist zip line failure left man dead and woman injured after falling up to 25 metres, Queensland inquest hears | Queensland
According to the information obtained by the judicial investigation, a man died and his wife was seriously injured when the zipline system used by the tourist failed because it was not fixed tightly enough.
Coroner Wayne Pennell held a pre-inquest hearing on Thursday into the death of Dean Sanderson at Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours in Cape Tribulation in northern Queensland on October 22, 2019.
The lawyer assisting April Freeman cited two expert reports on the incident. Both blamed the technique used to secure the wire, which he called the “wire rope grip” or “bulldog clip.” The wire passes through a ferrule that secures it in place.
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The wire came undone at the point of attachment, and both Sanderson and his wife, Shannon, fell approximately 20 to 25 feet to the ground. The woman, whose ribs were broken and her shoulder blade broken, died at the scene with injuries to her head and chest.
A person can’t visually determine how tight the grips are, and the torque, which indicates how tightly the string is fastened into place, can decrease over time as the string settles, Freeman said. They also needed regular re-tightening and other maintenance.
According to a report by Queensland Workplace Health and Safety expert Stuart Davies, the coroner heard the torque at the time of the incident was one-seventh as tight as federal standards require.
“Calculations carried out by Mr Davies showed that at least two tonnes of force was being applied to the main end as the Sandersons moved along the zip line at the time of the incident,” he said.
The coroner heard that federal standards are somewhat conflicting about their use. Some banned them altogether; others effectively allowed them by regulating how they were run.
Freeman said there was “uncertainty in the industry about the appropriateness of using wire rope assemblies as terminations.”
The zipline is designed to take tourists repeatedly for approximately 86 meters between two towers above the rainforest, part of a larger route. The Sandersons were part of a 10-person tourist tour using the place at the time.
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland launched two investigations as a result of the incident, but no convictions were obtained. The company that operated it was deregistered by Asic.
The coroner will hold a five-day inquest into the incident in March next year.
It will consider 11 issues, including the standards required for the safe use of zipline amusement rides and the suitability of the qualifications of people operating it before it failed.
