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ACTIVITY PROCEDURE & INSTRUCTOR INDUCTION
Procedure for: Giants Ladder
Description: Giants Ladder is located in the treed area on the northern part of the
property, by the house.
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Identified Risks: Refer Risk Analysis Matrix – Giants Ladder
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Staff Ratio: 1 CL Instructor / 16 students / 1 Teacher
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Staff Competency: CL Staff & Contract Staff must have: Current Blue Card
Senior 1st Aid qualification
Familiarity with this or a similar activity covering at least 4 operations
Been inducted to this procedure CL Staff must also have:
Remote Area 1st Aid qualification
Successfully briefed and supervised the activity via one (1) assessment.
A signed and completed assessment record to be filed in instructors file.
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Staff Currency: CL Staff or lead worker (contract staff):
Log book experience showing 6 operations in the last 3 years, one of those in the last 12 months or has been re-inducted to this procedure plus been assessed as competent prior to use
Demonstrated ability and personal fitness to perform full range of activity tasks
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Related Procedures
to be competent in: N/A Tick if covered
Ref. Documents: NA Tick if covered Equipment: INSTRUCTOR Personal: o Hat o Water Bottle o Raincoat Safety: o 1st Aid Kit
o Student Medical Summary Form (on site) o Student Medication (if applicable, on site)
o Communications (personal or work mobile phone, UHF) o Harness (safety tails with locking carabineers, knife, x2
locking carabineers, x1 long sling, prussic cords) o Helmet
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For the Set Up:
o x 10 Alloy Screwgate carabiners o x 2 static ropes
o x4 steel triple locking carabineers
o x 4 full body harnesses (large and small sizes)
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Hat
Sunscreen (can already be applied) Water Bottle
Closed in Footwear
Raincoat (weather dependant)
Suitable clothing (condition dependant) Helmet
Harness
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Inspections &
Maintenance: MAINTENANCE Refer CL Inspection and Routine Maintenance Register
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Pre Activity: Environmental Considerations
Check daily or where possible the:
Weather Bureau of Meteorology - Home Page Activity Set Up
Belay Line
o Connect belay lines (static rope) to haul cords and pull through static pulley positioned directly above where each climber will ascend.
o The climber’s end of the rope is tied with a bunny ears knot / double figure eight knot and x 2 steel tri-lock carabiners (opposite and opposed)
o The belay end is a closed loop tied off with a secure bowline i.e. Scott’s lock or standard bowline secured with a
fisherman’s/stopper knot. This loop contains a minimum of 5 alpine butterfly knots tied in succession with an alloy
carabiner attaching each butterfly knot to the belay loop of each participant’s harness.
o The belay persons’ stand in a circle and operate as one unit. Student Safety Check
Personally check each student for the following prior to each activity: Ensure student head count occurs prior to and during activity Closed in footwear
Appropriate personal clothing Group Management
x2 students – climbers, harnessed, helmet, tied in ready to go x10 students – x5 per belay line (x2 belay line)
Rest of group – refer procedure
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NB: Rest of the group should be away from belayers, allowing them
to concentrate on belaying Cancellation of an Activity
If a CL staff member cancels an activity the Manager must be informed and an alternate activity arranged.
The CL staff member may cancel an activity at any time, some examples are but not limited to:
The groups maturity is not ready to take on the necessary responsibility to act safely for the activity
The group does not show the necessary trust and or commitment to each other
Adverse weather, e.g. electrical storm, exceptionally strong winds, heavy and continuous downpour, bush fire threat Significantly slippery surfaces, e.g. ground, platform, ramp etc
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Pre Activity
continued. Safety Brief – Waist Harness Fitting Take your harness by the waist loop ensuring the writing on the
tag is up the right way and having the small loop, called the belay loop facing away from you
The large blue loop goes around your waist – ensure strap is open to its largest setting
The two smaller blue loops are your leg loops – ensure straps are open to largest setting
Hold the waist loop in two hands and lay it on the ground, you should see the two leg loops clearly in the centre of the waist loop
Step into the leg loops and pull the harness up above your hip bones
Tighten the waist loop first – this should be firm enough that you can slip and hand in between your tummy and waist loop, form a fist and not pull it out
Tighten the leg loops so they are firm (not tight)
Tuck the tails of the loops into their elastic band or keeper (already attached) and pull these around to the back to keep the tails out of the way
There will be a thin piece of webbing running from the back of one leg loop, up through the back of the waist loop and back down to the other leg loop where it will clip in
Always have your harness checked by an instructor every time you put it on
Safety Brief – Full-body Harness Fitting
Lay harness on ground, ensure there are no twists and waist/leg loops are adjusted to the largest setting.
Participant steps into leg loops and pulls waist loop above hips. Adjust the ‘sit’ part of the harness first so that the overhead loop
sits in the middle of the participants back.
Pull the overhead loop over the participants head and clip the buckle in at the front of the harness. Ensure there are no twists and that the back attachment sits between the participants shoulder blades.
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carabiners) to the front attachment point of the participants harness
Safety Brief – Helmet Fitting
The back of the helmet will have either a webbing or plastic adjustment buckle or slide, either pull the tab or push the buttons to tighten or loosen the adjuster
The helmet should fit snugly on your head so it won’t fall off when you gently rock your head forward and back
Loosen the chin strap as needed and clip it together Do not sit on your helmet
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Activity Delivery: Instructor Role
Instructor to supervise the high ropes activity Instructor must check each:
o climber before they leave the ground
o belay team before the climber leaves the ground Framing the Activity
NB: This usually occurs prior to leaving for the activity. Safety Brief – Giants Ladder Element
Climber
o Check harness and helmet are fitted appropriately before climbing
o Ensure the 2 tri-lock carabiners are clipped (opposite and opposed) into the alloy clip in point on the front of the harness waistbelt
o Ensure the rope is not twisted around the pulley but hanging freely to prevent damage to the rope
o Check belay team is ready before climbing
o Before leaving the ground have an instructor check the
climber and the belay team
o Climber must wait for the slack to be taken out of the rope before climbing i.e. the rope must be taut
o Stress importance of communication between climber and belayers
o Do not hold onto safety rope when climbing as this may cause undue slack in the system increasing the fall factor Belayers
o Refer Safety Brief – Team Belay below
o Before climber leaves the ground belay team must
request a check from an instructor
o Harness, refer Harness (standard sit) fitting and use o Squeeze test carabineers on belayer’s
o Ensure all belayers under your supervision are competent in the use of the appropriate belay methods
Safety Brief – Team Belay
The climber must wait for the slack to be taken out of the rope before climbing i.e. the rope must be taught and for the 1st belayer to say “climb when ready”
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Step 1
o All belayers walk backwards until rope is taut in the loop (between belayers) and taught between donkey belay and climber (do not lift climber, do not run, do not lean back on rope)
Step 2
o Pay attention as the climber ascends, walk backwards to maintain tension on the rope. The rope should be taut, but not tight.
Step 3
o Once the climber has reached the top of the element or has decided they would like to come down, ensure there is no slack in the system.
Step 4
o Once the climber has fully let go of the element and is hanging completely on the rope all belayers walk forward together slowly in a controlled manner, maintaining an even distribution of weight Step 5
o Once the climber has reached the ground safely, belay team walks forward a few additional steps to create slack in the rope, allowing instructor to disconnected carabiners from climber’s harness.
Activity Delivery
continued: Emergency Evacuation Guidelines Rationale
During the activity staff would respond to any emergency as per their remote area first aid protocols
Actions should always be with the best interests and safety of the group in mind
If the situation allows the group can deal with the situation themselves utilising their own resources
The next level would be to engage assistance from a Staff member back at CL (on-call) who could also coordinate medical support if required
Staff, also have the option if immediate support is required to use either the mobile phone to ring 000 or the EPIRB device
Guidelines DRSABCD
Pre-call information: (have the following on hand) o Your location and location of patient if different o Type of Incident
- injury, illness, lost student, vehicle damage etc o Incident details
- how, when, where o Patient details
- Name, age
- medical history, allergies etc o Condition of the patient
o An option for evacuation, including: (but not limited to) - meeting point
- meeting time
- further contact details and times - who will manage the patient
- group management for the rest of the group
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o Give your phone number
o Arrange a time for a follow up call if needed (you may need to physically relay information back to the group)
Emergency Contact numbers are located in the yellow communications box and saved in mobile phone SELF OR CL ASSISTED EVACUATION
Contact CL or ‘On Call’ using the mobile phone o Relay ‘pre-call information’ as above
o Confirm a suitable option and evacuation details 000 ASSISSTED EVACUATION
Contact 000 using the mobile phone o Relay ‘pre-call information’ as above
o Confirm a suitable option and evacuation details
You may need to explain your remoteness if you’re not near a road head or road junction
You may be put through to several people to get someone who’ll be able to work out a plan with you
It is good to have an evacuation option to suggest Be the last to hang up the phone
Contact CL as soon as possible
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Post Activity: Debrief
Link to details in the description Pack Up
Ensure the group are all accounted for prior to leaving the site Make sure there are no personal items or rubbish left behind
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Approved By: Name: Narelle Smith Date: Updated April
2020
INDUCTION – this may be recorded on the Contract Worker Agreement form
Inductee: I hereby certify that I have received induction in the items indicated
above.
_________________ _________________ ____/____/____
Name Signature Date
Inducted by: Must be a competent CL staff member.
_________________ _________________ ____/____/____
