TIME FROM OUR
BY RICK KAHL
TO LEARN
MISTAKES
The industry needs to talk openly about incidents and develop a real safety culture, say two prominent PVMs haunted by an old tragedy.
F or individuals, organizations, and industries to improve and grow, it helps to learn from serious incidents that occur. That learning, though, can only happen when people are willing to confront what happened honestly and openly and share what they have learned. Otherwise, indi - viduals, organizations, and industries are doomed to repeating the same mistakes over and over. That was the message that Todd Domeck and Mandy Stewart of ERi deliv - ered during a session at the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) Annual Conference and Expo last Febru - ary. Their session described an incident that occurred 13 years ago and exposed some of the industry’s shortcomings, from its culture to its standards and practices.
Some of these shortcomings still exist, Domeck and Stewart told API during an interview in late summer. And that’s worrisome. “I’m telling you my story because if we don’t start talking about serious inci - dents openly, they’re just going to keep happening,” Domeck said.
and the tower collapsed, which caused the zip line to lose tension and drop. Teddy hit the rocks on the river below and died. Curt was physically attached to the tower and went down with it, but he survived.” Amidst this tragedy, Domeck added, “My top three priorities were to take care of the families, to find out what happened, and to deal with the indus - try backlash that I knew would come.”
THE GENESIS OF THE STORY
“On September 21, 2011, my crew was working on the big island of Hawaii just outside of Hilo,” Domeck recalled. “They were testing a zip line that they had brought back up to its original tension. Teddy Calloway was riding the zip line. Curtis Wright was on the zip line tower. When Teddy started to ride the line, both of the guy anchors cata - strophically pulled out of the ground,
That third item is telling. More on it in a moment.
First, Domeck said, “I focused on the family. I called Teddy’s dad, and let him know that his son was dead. That was the hardest phone call I’ve ever made. I flew with Teddy’s body back to Pasco, Washington, and then we
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator