Editorial: Focus on safety

OPINION: The Government decision to introduce a registration system and safety audits for adventure tourism operators is a welcome but long overdue development.

The move followed a Department of Labour review of the industry which was triggered by several well-publicised recent adventure tourism fatalities and in total 39 people died while undertaking outdoor activities between 2004 and 2009. Each of these fatalities is a tragedy for the family and friends of the victim and if the Government had not acted the accident record of the industry also had the potential to damage New Zealand's appeal as a tourist destination.

The departmental report painted a picture of an adventure tourism sector with inconsistencies in terms of safety standards. Those which involved adventure aviation, boating or rafting were governed by strict aviation or maritime rules. But at the other end of the scale there are no rules in place for activities such as bridge-swinging, swimming with dolphins or surfing.

As Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson pointed out it was scary that some adventure tourism companies could start up with no checks or controls. And too often safety standards only became an issue after an accident had occurred.

Undoubtedly part of the problem is that the range of adventure tourism activities has expanded in recent years. Many of the companies are also small and, as the department's report noted, tended to have a day-to-day operational focus.

Under the Government's new policy, registration would be mandatory for commercial adventure tourism operators, of whom there are about 1500 in New Zealand. Registration would require these operators to have a robust risk management plan. This would be backed up by an initial safety audit with further periodic audits to follow.

The Government stopped short of introducing a full licensing scheme. It argued that this would be costly and would not confer any real safety benefits in addition to the registration process. Operators also argue that a licensing scheme would take the emphasis for safety away from the adventure companies themselves.

If the safety record of the industry, however, does not improve, there would be little option but to move to licensing.

Between now and the end of November the department will be finalising the details of the Government scheme. These include whether instructors and guides should be required to have appropriate qualifications for their outdoor activities.

This would be the preferable option to give added certainty about customer safety. A difficulty is that although there are qualifications available for activities such as mountain climbing and skiing, there are as yet none for several of the newer outdoor pursuits.

Overall, the Government announcement is a good first step and a positive signal that it takes adventure tourism safety seriously. It should reduce the likelihood of a repetition of the sort of operator negligence which caused the death of Catherine Peters in a bridge-swinging accident last year.

Obviously the risk can never be totally taken out of many outdoor pursuits. This is part of the challenge which attracts participants, but they have a right to expect that their adventure tourism operators have a firm focus on their safety and do not jeopardise lives by acting carelessly or recklessly.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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