Safety Alert - Recent Abseiling Incident

Safety Alert - Recent Abseiling Incident

An incident occurred at a recent abseiling activity. 

After the initial setup, it was identified that additional redundancy should be added to the main anchor.

As additional redundancy was added, two members of the team’s safety lines were disconnected from the anchors, resulting in one team member taking a fall and sustaining minor injuries.

Initial learnings:

-         When making changes that involve the safety system, always have people move to a safe area and disconnect prior to any change taking place.

-         Ensure active communication, especially during changes in the integrity of the rigging.

-         Situational awareness and the Buddy-Buddy system.

Scouts Qld is currently investigating this incident, and further learnings will be communicated.



    • Related Articles

    • Safety Alert - Abseiler Fall Due To Self-belay Device Failure To Engage

      ABSEILER FALL DUE TO SELF-BELAY DEVICE FAILURE TO ENGAGE An event occurred at a Scout owned Artificial Abseiling Tower when a Scout Trained Abseiler was undertaking skills development practice at the end of a Guided Abseiling Session. The trained ...

    • Safety Alert - Member Burn Incident

      During a recent camp, while participating in a routine scouting activity, a youth member accidentally fell backward into an unused campfire ring, resulting in a large area burn on their elbow. The campfire ring was situated adjacent to the campsite ...

    • Safety Alert - Emergency Preparedness

      A recent major event included a mountain biking (MTB) base where groups of about six Scouts with Leader and Rover Scout support partook in activity rotations. On one of the rotations, a Scout presented with asthma type symptoms and received initial ...

    • Safety Alert - Be Aware of Powerlines

      At a recent scout activity while doing pioneering construction, there was a near miss identified with one group constructing too close to some overhead powerlines. The activity was paused immediately, participants warned of the potential danger, ...

    • Safety Alert - Leader injured during cycling activity

      A group activity was conducted in May 2024 based around cycling and included Joey Scouts, Cub Scouts and Scouts. The evening was split into two activities with the Joey Scouts and Cub Scouts based at a local school and the Scouts partaking in a ...