Adventure tourism regs under review again, what about WorkSafe's role?
Tuesday, 1 December 2020
Adventure activity regulations may be tightened if a review prompted by the Whakaari White Island disaster finds any weaknesses.
The review by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment is taking a close look at commercial adventure activities involving natural hazards, safety auditing, and the role of experts in monitoring and reporting any potential problems.
Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts agreed with the emphasis on natural hazards, and said there was no need for another full scale enquiry into the adventure sector.
But questions remained over whether it was appropriate for WorkSafe, which administers the adventure activity register, to effectively investigate its own actions in relation to trips to the active volcano.
**READ MORE:
* Both pilot and brother of Whakaari tour guide against WorkSafe charges
* Whakaari/White Island owners charged over fatal eruption
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“We noted from the outset, as did others, that the system has the investigator and the regulator as the same party, which inevitably raises the question – can WorkSafe adequately investigate itself?”
On Monday WorkSafe announced it had charged 13 parties with failing to meet their obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act following a lengthy investigation into events leading up to the eruption that left 22 dead and others severely burnt.
GNS Science, which monitors volcanic activity on Whakaari, and the National Emergency Management Agency (Civil Defence) have identified themselves as among those facing charges, along with island owners and two tour operators.
“An interesting aspect of the decision to prosecute is that two government agencies are being prosecuted, while WorkSafe is not prosecuting itself, as the agency which arguably had the greater involvement in determining how Whakaari should be safely accessed,” Roberts said.
WorkSafe chief executive Phil Parkes said the agency was reflecting on its practice and making changes to the way that it implemented the adventure activities regime.
“That work is underway, but there is nothing urgent that we are required to put out publicly at this point.”
Last year WorkSafe confirmed that two months before the fatal eruption, one of its safety experts visited boat and ground tour operator White Island Tours, which had passed its safety audits, but the agency refused to comment on the reason for the visit.
Helicopter operators landing on Whakaari had also raised concerns about waiting months for responses from WorkSafe over their need to be on the adventure activity register.
When questioned at Monday’s media conference, Parkes said no WorkSafe staff had faced internal employment action over monitoring of safety standards for White Island tours.
“Like all organisations we will learn from our practice and make improvements, but at this point there has been no censure for any individuals at WorkSafe.'
Parkes said any discussions about future access to the privately owned island were outside the scope of the WorkSafe enquiry, but in an interview on Radio New Zealand, Work Place Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood said the Government could step in if it was a matter of ensuring public safety.
WorkSafe’s decision to prosecute the owners of Whakaari White Island is also a wakeup call for the Department of Conservation which has specific health and safety responsibilities as a landowner charging for commercial activities on its estate.
DOC is setting up a new five member national visitor safety team to improve risk assessments, and help with investigations into incidents and near misses.
Over the next four months DOC and GNS Science will try to quantify the risk at geothermal sites where DOC has visitor facilities - Rainbow Mountain-Crater Lake, Te Kopia, Waiotapu, and two sites where concessions manage visitors.
The latter includes Moutohorā Whale Island, where White Island Tours runs boat trips, and the Waimangu Volcanic Valley.