Cave Creek Disaster
Coordinates: 42 ° 4 ′ 16.7 ″ S , 171 ° 26 ′ 35.7 ″ E
The Cave Creek disaster occurred on April 28, 1995, when a viewing platform in New Zealand's Paparoa National Park collapsed due to various causes. There were 17 people on the platform, all of whom fell about 30 meters into a watercourse and onto the surrounding rocks. Due to the fall and the long time before help came, 14 people died and only three survived the accident. As a result of the accident, extensive investigations were initiated by the Department of Conservation (DOC) to reduce the likelihood that a similar event would occur again. The main cause remains controversial to this day, although the result of a committee of inquiry uncovered several possible causes. Nobody was found directly responsible.
background
The observation deck that collapsed was then in Paparoa National Park , on the western coast of the South Island of New Zealand . It was positioned directly above the place where a watercourse ( Cave Creek ) emerges from an underground cave system. The platform was constructed by DOC employees who are also responsible for the supervision and maintenance of all national parks in New Zealand .
Course of events
On the morning of April 28, 1995, a group of students went on a research trip. They belonged to the Tai Poutini Polytechnic in Greymouth . The students split into several groups, one with the intention of hiking to the Cave Creek observation deck. When they got to the platform, 17 people from the group huddled on the platform to look at the river and the view. It was later reported that some of the group started joking about the stability of the platform. To “test” the safety of the platform, some students started jumping up and down (a well-designed platform should be able to withstand such activity). At that moment the platform's substructure collapsed. She tipped forward, and immediately fell into the ravine. The 17 people who stood on it fell down with the platform.
There were four remaining members of the group who were not on the platform at the time of the accident. Two of these people returned to their cars to call for help over the radio. When they got to the cars, they found they couldn't use the radio correctly, so a student in a nearby house asked for help. The two people who stayed at the scene had meanwhile found a way to the scene of the accident to help the survivors. In the meantime, one of the students had managed to call the police. Several rescue teams were deployed: the police, fire brigade and ambulance, along with local DOC rangers and other workers nearby using helicopters. The two members of the group who immediately attempted to help the survivors found several victims alive and (in many cases) conscious. Despite the efforts of those who helped and the rescue teams who arrived later, only four people survived the accident.
Committee of Inquiry
After the Cave Creek disaster, a committee of inquiry was held to determine what exactly happened and who, if anything, should be held accountable. It was also important to determine strategies that could avoid a similar accident. The investigation found that no one could be held directly accountable. The government was to blame as the secure structure of the platform was not verified. Even so, no one was held directly responsible.
It was found that the accident was triggered by an unfortunate concatenation of various causes. These causes include misunderstandings, breakdowns in communications, and failure to take important action that has not been implemented. Lack of funding was not mentioned as a primary cause. The State Services Commission found that the DOC had acted properly at the time, but that risk management strategies were inadequate. The building codes of the Building Act 1991 and Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 were not implemented, and it was decided that additional funds should be given to DOC after the accident between 1998 and 2000.
The main cause was found to be: that the viewing platform was not constructed correctly in terms of building regulations. This led to the ultimate failure of the structure with catastrophic results. The committee of inquiry identified six additional primary causes:
- no qualified type approval or building permit
- no qualified review of the construction project
- failure to comply with legal regulations
- Lack of regular reviews after construction
- inadequate official warning signs warning of the potential risk
- failure of preventive measures and systems everywhere
Other consequences
The Department of Conservation has now become generally more risk-conscious; a much larger sum of money is now being made available to the Department by the government, and a special effort is now being made to test all of the DOC-owned structures. Between 2004 and 2012, the DOC was given NZ $ 82 million by the government for the improvement and maintenance of New Zealand parks. During the three months that followed the accident, there were major changes to the DOC and a re-examination of all DOC structures was required by the government. In total, more than 2,000 structures were checked again to ensure their safety. In addition, more than 12,500 meters of hiking trails were checked and 80 specialized engineers were employed to verify the safety standards. The intensive testing of buildings continues to this day; all structures are now checked every two years by DOC employees, and all those structures that are considered "high risk" are checked every six years by a qualified engineer. The former observation deck at Cave Creek was not rebuilt. Today there is only a fence and a warning sign at the scene of the accident, although the path was rebuilt and reopened. A memorial plaque was unveiled in April 1996.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Cave Creek and afterwards . In: A short history of DOC: 1987-2007 . Department of Conservation , accessed June 22, 2018 .
- ^ Cave Creek . Department of Conservation , April 28, 1995, accessed June 22, 2018 .
- ^ Wayne Thompson : Cave Creek haunts survivor . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , March 18, 2005, accessed June 22, 2018 .
- ^ Cave Creek Report - Part One . (PDF 796 kB) Department of Conservation , July 31, 2002, accessed on June 22, 2018 .
- ^ A b Cave Creek Report - Part Two . (PDF 482 kB) Department of Conservation , July 31, 2002, accessed on June 22, 2018 .
- ^ Review of the Department of Conservation . (PDF 127 kB) Department of Conservation , December 16, 1995, archived from the original on February 4, 2018 ; accessed on August 29, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ Building Act 1991 . Legislation New Zealand , archived from the original on July 8, 2010 ; accessed on June 22, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 . Legislation New Zealand , archived from the original on May 4, 2013 ; accessed on June 22, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ Commission of Inquiry Cave Creek report . Department of Conservation , 1995, accessed June 22, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c Ten years on . Department of Conservation , accessed June 22, 2018 .