Safety shockwaves

The Tongariro Crossing could be caught up in risk assessment of volcanic tourism after the Whakaari/White Island disaster. Amanda Cropp reports.

Adaily cap on the number of people who can walk the Tongariro Crossing could be considered following the Whakaari/White Island disaster.

The December 9 eruption, which killed 20 people and left many survivors with horrific burns, has prompted a review of hazards at all geothermal and volcanic areas on Department of Conservation land.

In a sign of just how far shockwaves from the White Island tragedy have penetrated, the safety of less-risky visitor experiences is under scrutiny.

Since the Tongariro Crossing was last closed by volcanic activity, in 2012, patronage has soared and more than 140,000 people completed the walk last year.On busy days in summer, up to 1500 people attempt the challenging six to eight-hour hike.

DOC director of heritage and visitor experiences Steve Taylor says a daily cap is something it will consider in future to ease congestion and reduce environmental damage, but it would also have the benefit of reducing the numbers exposed to volcanic risk.

Like other property owners allowing commercial ventures on their land, the department faces prosecution by WorkSafe if it does not meet its health and safety responsibilities.

It therefore has an interest in the results of a modelling exercise commissioned by Ruapehu Alpine Lifts to see if any of the gondola towers for its new $25 million Sky Waka on Mt Ruapehu need strengthening to withstand a lahar (volcanic mudslide).

Last year DOC also began looking at its obligations in relation to concessionaires operating on the DOC estate, and checking the safety of all short walks and day hikes it promotes.

Those moves followed a damning report on its failure to act over safety concerns about a major cliff-face collapse near the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony that seriously injured two Korean tourists who were swept into the sea.

In the 18 months prior to the slip, safety concerns were raised 14 times, including in presentations to senior departmental managers.

Taylor admits ‘‘a series of systemic failures’’ were responsible for that situation, but he is confident the creation of the team he now heads will ensure it does not recur, and visitor safety gets the priority it deserves.

In line with that, DOC could make it compulsory for concession holders to report ‘‘near miss’’ incidents, such as clients on guided tours getting lost, so problems such as poor signage are logged and addressed.

There have been eight near misses in the Tongariro National Park since 1945 and former DOC vulcanologist Dr Harry Keys says paying attention to close calls helps avoid future tragedy.

Now retired, but still doing some private consulting, he was made an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit in 2008 for his work ensuring public safety following volcanic eruptions.

‘‘Humans are already closeted enough in their cities, people need to get out and see these things and have adventures.’’ Vulcanologist Dr Harry Keys

Keys is looking forward to the findings of WorkSafe’s investigation into the White Island disaster and what it reveals about the expertise of those involved in the safety audits of trips to the active volcano.

‘‘There will be lessons learned at all sorts of levels, government down to the owners and operators, and if the establishment is willing to learn those lessons, everything will be fine.

‘‘That’s the thing about adventure tourism on volcanoes, we learn by our mistakes, we learn by near-misses.’’

When Mt Tongariro’s Te Maari crater erupted in August 2012, it spewed car-sized boulders that landed near a hut with such force they were buried in the ground.

It happened at night in winter, no one was in the hut or on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The track was immediately closed and most of it remained so for nine months.

The result could have been very different had the eruption occurred during the day in summer, and that led to changes in the park’s volcanic alert system.

‘‘The [rock] bombs and the broken trees, God it was warzone, worse than Whakaari probably,’’ Keys says.

GNS Science, which monitors the country’s volcanoes, raised the White Island alert to level 2 three weeks before the fatal December eruption.