Thursday, October 13, 2011

Should ziplines be regulated?

One to watch for next session...

According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Rep. Mark Nakashima plans to re-introduce legislation in 2012 that proposes state regulation of zipline businesses. See story here.

A recent accident in Hilo at the Lava Hotline site reignites the issue of whether zipline activities should be subject to state guidelines for safety reasons. A worker who was injured on September 21 while trying to tighten a zipline cable was released from the hospital yesterday, but the business remains closed pending further investigation.

The bill introduced last year is HB1246. It adds ziplines under the category of "amusement rides" which are currently regulated under the boiler and elevator safety law. It also requires that zipline business carry liability insurance by a carrier licensed to do business in Hawaii. The bill was co-introduced by other Big Island representatives Chang, Evans, Hanohano, Herkes and Tsuji.

According to the Star Advertiser:

"Nakashima has consulted with Steve Gustafson, a board member of Professional Ropes Course Association, which has drafted a set of standards for ziplining courses and submitted them to the American National Standards Institute. Nakashima said he plans to use those standards in his bill.

Gustafson's company, Experienced Based Learning, has built five zipline courses in Hawaii, including one at World Botanical Gardens, seven miles from the Lava Hotline site."

Here's a look at the World Botanical site:

1 comment:

brittany carkeek said...

i agree with the zipline being closed until further investigation. This is a very dangerous activity!