Future Direction of Outdoor Pursuits in WA - Australian Sports ...

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Appendix 1:
Excerpt from the Coroner’s Report on the Hartfield Inquest
I, Michael Joseph McGUIRE SM, Coroner, having investigated:
1. The death of Kristy Rose HARTFIELD
2. With an inquest held at PERTH Coroner’s Court, 172 St George’s Terrace, Perth on the
Twenty-fifth, Twenty-six and Twenty-eight days of August, 1998.
3. Find that ...
I recommend that consideration be given to the desirability of legislating in this State to control
abseiling and similar activities to include:
(a) Licensing of instructors;
(b) Setting curricula to be completed before licensing shall occur;
(c) Issuing and disseminating guidelines;
(d) Maintaining a register of licensed instructors;
(e) The circumstances when bottom belay may be used;
(f) The circumstances when top belay shall be used;
(g) The circumstances when a points man shall be required;
(h) Stipulating what drills and instructions shall be give to prospective abseilers before
abseiling commences;
(i) Approval of abseiling sites;
(j) Specifying what part or parts of Western Australia may be used for abseiling activates;
(k) Specifying the types of communication to be used by abseilers from the bottom to the top
of the cliff and in an emergency;
(l) Specifying the circumstances in which a rock fall shall be notified to the instructor;
(m) Providing a system of quality assurance to ensure that protocols are complied with;
(n) Requiring a log of participants and instructors to be kept; and
(o) Requiring a written emergency evacuation plan to be drawn up and approved before
abseiling occurs.
Future Direction of Outdoor Pursuits in WA