Understanding Passenger Ropeways Safety Risks

The Passenger Ropeways (PR) Safety Program at BC Safety Authority (BCSA) is responsible for overseeing the safety of passenger ropeways throughout British Columbia in accordance with the Safety Standards Act and the Elevating Devices Safety Regulation. Passenger ropeways include tramways, , , rope tows and passenger conveyors.

Incidents

The following summarizes incidents reported to BCSA involving passenger ropeway (PR) equipment.

Table 7-1: Major PR Incidents in 2015 Figure 7-1: PR Incident Reports 2011-2015 Rating Qty Description 120 Major 1 Component failure 2 7 2 80 3 4 The types and number of incidents reported in 2015 is lower than previous 1 years and is possibly due to the low ridership experienced as a result of 40 99 85 76 86 27 a very warm and short 2014-2015 season. One MAJOR incident was 32 reported where a broken anchor bolt for a ropeway tower was discovered. 0 2 Most MINOR incidents involved passengers falling when loading or 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 unloading from passenger carriers, deropements, and equipment failures Under invesgaon Minor Major Severe that required passengers to be evacuated from carriers. A summary of incidents is included in Appendix A1.

Injuries

Injuries reported as a result of passenger ropeway incidents in 2015 are summarized below.

Table 7-2: Major Injuries Reported in 2015 [Note 1] Figure 7-2: Injuries Reported 2011-2015 Rating Qty Description [Note 1]

Major 5 (Possible) fractures 60

2 (Possible) concussions or neck/spine injuries 29 40 Note 1: BCSA receives its injury reports and descriptions from operators or first responders at the time of, 17 or immediately following, the incident. Injuries may develop after the initial reports were made to BCSA and 14 the long term effects of a resultant injury may not be recorded as part of the BCSA investigation. 15 20 7 27 24 14 28 5 Fewer injuries were reported in 2015 than in previous years. This reduction 0 is possibly a result of low public participation due to the very warm and 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 short 2014-2015 season. Seven MAJOR injuries were associated with Minor Major passenger misloading and exiting of carriers. MINOR injuries included pain, strains and bruises from misloads and from unintended contact with carriers.

Deropement incidents are reported each year to BCSA. Mostly, these incidents do not result in injuries and damage to the ropeway equipment. These incidents do, however, pose a significant risk to passenger safety on aerial ropeways and surface ropeways if the rope and carriers are not retained by the system. Given the consistent number of deropement reports, this year’s State of Safety Report includes a summary of past deropement incidents reported to BCSA.

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Deropement Incidents (January 2009 to June 2015)

BC is home to some of the world’s best alpine facilities. Millions of BC residents and tourists frequent these facilities every year to enjoy , , mountain biking, hiking, and alpine vistas. An integral part of this experience is exciting and safe transportation on passenger ropeways.

Passenger ropeways are some of the safest forms of transportation. Safety and confidence in these systems has been achieved by combining technical advancements in design with a strong safety culture within the industry. Put simply, safety is achieved when passengers remain on their carriers, carriers remain gripped to the cables and the cables remain on the sheaves.

Even though significant advancements have been made in safety, every year, BC experiences a number of incidents where the cable of a passenger ropeway departs from the sheaves. Within the industry, these incidents are called deropements.

All passenger ropeways in BC are required to incorporate a means to retain the cable to the outside of the sheave assemblies should it depart from its normal running position. The means of retention must also allow for free passage of the cable (the haul rope), grips and carriers while the cable is either in or out of the normal position. Testing is required to demonstrate that free passage and safe clearances are maintained during anticipated operating conditions.

Typically, cable retention designs have incorporated a series of angle brackets on the outside of sheave assemblies to catch the cable in the event of a deropement. These angle brackets are referred to as cable or rope catchers. To improve the likelihood of cable catchers to catch and retain the cable, a requirement in BC was added that retention means shall be located not more than half of the sheave’s diameter vertically from the normal position of the rope and that sensing devices are incorporated to stop the system as soon as possible following a deropement.

In addition to these requirements, ski hill operators take a variety of preventative measures to minimise the likelihood of a deropement event. These measures include: regular inspections of sheave alignment, automated cable tensioning systems, snow plowing/grooming protocols to create tracks to guide skiers and snowboarders in a safe path, and posting signage to instruct passengers to remain on the designated path.

Even with the advances in requirements for rope catchers and the measures taken to prevent deropements, from 2009 to 2014, on average four deropements were reported annually where the cable is not retained. Deropements present a serious risk to passengers on aerial ropeways, who could fall to the ground and to passengers on surface lifts who could be struck by the falling cable above them. This study summarizes reported deropement incidents occurring from January 1, 2009 to June 30, 2015.

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Operating Passenger Ropeways In BC

As discussed above, BCSA is responsible for overseeing the safety of passenger ropeways throughout BC in accordance with the Safety Standards Act and the Elevating Devices Safety Regulation. There are generally two types of passenger ropeways operating in BC:

1. surface ropeways that pull a standing passenger along a surface, and 2. aerial (or above-surface) ropeways where the passenger is completely suspended in a carrier which is attached to a ropeway.

Figure 7.1-1 shows the distribution between the different operating passenger ropeways in BC.

Figure 7.1-1: Operating Passenger Ropeways in BC Figure 7.1-2: Operating Aerial Ropeways 19 Industrial 3 20 18 18 Single reversible 1 15 15

L Fixed 2 15 13 IA Fixed chair 66 ER

A 10 Double reversible 4 10 Detach gondola 10 6 5 Detach chair 40 4 5 Tube tow 10 2 1 Surface T-Bar 32 E 0 0 0 AC Surface plaer 9

RF No 0-45-9 10- 15- 20- 25- 30- 35- 40- 45- 50- 55- 60+ Rope tow 2

SU data 14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 Conveyor 39 Handle tow 19 Years of Operaon

Figure 7.1-3: Age of Operating Surface Ropeways

20 16 15 15 12 10 10 10 10 9 10 8 7

5 3 1 0 0 0 No 0-45-9 10- 15- 20- 25- 30- 35- 40- 45- 50- 55- 60+ data 14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 Years of Operaon

There are approximately 237 passenger ropeways operating in BC today, manufactured by approximately 23 different companies and installed at 51 different sites or ski areas. As illustrated in figures 7.1-2 and 7.1-3 above, passenger ropeways operating in BC range in age of installation from one year to almost 60 years.

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Passenger ropeways are used mainly during the winter months at ski resorts with a few operating during summer months. Most incidents are reported to occur between November and April as illustrated in figure 7.1-4 below. Deropement incidents follow the same seasonal pattern with peaks of occurrences happening in January and February.

Figure 7.1-4: Figure 7.1-5: PR Incidents by Month and Year Deropement Incidents by Month and Year

40

2015 8 2014 30 2013 2012 6 2015 2011 2014 2010 2013 20 2009 4 2012 2011 2010 2009 10 2

0 0 JulAug SepOct NovDec JanFeb MarApr MayJun JulAug SepOct NovDec JanFeb MarApr MayJun

Figure 7.1-6: Figure 7.1-7: Figure 7.1-8: Reported Deropement Incidents Deropements by Type, Lift and Year Deropements and Lift Type

31 20 20 1 1 26 15 5 15 3 3 2 3 2 10 10 11 2 2 11 2 1 1 0 2 4 4 6 5 5 1 3 3 585916 95 3445532 0 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014Jan-Jun 2009 201020112012 20132014 Jan-Jun Retained Not retained Retained Not retained 2015 2015 Aerial Surface Surface Aerial Surface Not retained Surface Retained Aerial Not retained Aerial Retained

Figures 7.1-6 through 7.1-8 illustrate relationships between the number and the types of deropements and the types ropeways involved in deropement incidents.

In 2013, six retained and one unretained deropements occurred on the same surface ropeway. Safety officers investigated the multiple incidents and the ropeway design. The investigation identified issues in the amount of tension in the system and safety officers worked with the owner to modify the design and installation to resolve the issue leading to these occurrences.

On average, approximately nine deropements are reported to occur in BC annually. Every year, almost five deropements are reported to occur where the rope is not retained, resulting in injury or serious risk of injury to passengers. Approximately 46% of deropements and 23% of deropements are not retained.

A summary of deropements occurring between January 2009 and June 2015 is included in Table A4-5 (Appendix A4).

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Deropements And Equipment

The following figures summarize deropement incidents relative to the age of the equipment and the identified contributing factors.

Figure 7.1-9: Approximate Age of Aerial Figure 7.1-10: Approximate Age of Surface Ropeway when Deropement Occurred Ropeway when Deropement Occurred

50 50

40 40 ) ) rs rs 30 30 ea ea (Y (Y e e 20 20 Ag Ag

10 10

0 0 Incident Incident Retained Not retained Retained Not retained

Figure 7.1-11: Deropements and Equipment Age Figure 7.1-12: Equipment Age When Incident Occurred and Contributing Factors

50 s nt me

pe 40 ) s ro ar De Ye ( y of 30 wa er pe mb Ro

f Nu o 20 e Ag 9 4 9 4 9 4 9 4 4 9 10 -1 -2 -2 -3 -3 -4 -4 0- -1 5- 49 + 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 10

Years of Operaon 0 Carrier Equipment Operaonal Passenger Wind Cable swing usage obstructed Contribung Factors to Deropement Incidents

Reliability engineering widely uses a concept called the bathtub curve to describe typical failure rates over the life-cycle of a product. At the beginning of a product’s life, increased failure rates may be experienced as a result of manufacturing quality errors or installation errors or the lack of familiarity of an operator with the product. Following this phase is a period where a lower failure rate is experienced, often a constant rate that is attributed to random issues. As the product ages and components begin to wear, an increased failure rate can be expected.

Elements of this bathtub curve can be observed when examining the instances of deropement relative to the age of the equipment in the above figures. There is an evident deropement rate that is experienced within the first two years of service. There are no deropements reported to have occurred on equipment between three and 15 years of age. Equipment installations and operations that are more than 15 years in age experience an increased deropement rate that remains as that equipment continues to age until retired from service.

Figure 7.1-12 plots age of the installation relative to the various identified cause categories and illustrates that there is no strong relationship between equipment age and any particular deropement cause.

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Deropements Resulting In Injuries

Five deropements since 2009 resulted in injuries to passengers. These incidents and injuries are summarized in Table 7.1-1. It is important to note that BCSA receives its injury reports and descriptions from operators or first responders at the time of, or immediately following, the incident. Injuries may develop after the initial reports were made to BCSA and the long term effects of a resultant injury may not be recorded as part of the BCSA investigation.

Table 7.1-1: Injuries Resulting from Deropement Incidents Qty Injury Suspected Cause(s) persons Description Suspected Ropeway Deropement Carrier of Deropement injured [Note 1] Cause of Injury Surface Not retained T-bar Passenger may have been skiing 1 Broken clavicle, Contact with cable out of the tow path; or carrier may concussion have contacted the tower. Surface Not retained T-bar A passenger fell on the tow path 1 Abrasion and Contact with cable prior to the tower. swollen arm Surface Not retained T-bar Passenger may have been 1 Possible Contact with cable riding out of the tow path. bruising Surface Not retained T-bar Passengers may have been 2 1 - Fractured shoulder riding out of the tow path. 1 - Bruises Contact with cable Aerial Not retained Fixed A swinging chair contacted a tower. 4 4 - Injuries requiring Carrier falling chair hospital treatment to the ground

Note 1: Injury information is provided to BCSA by first responders and/or voluntary reports at the time of investigation. Injury information is provided to give some context relating to impact or scale of the incident.

One out of six (17%) unretained surface deropments and one out of three (33%) of unretained aerial deropements resulted with injuries to passengers. Generally speaking, while unretained aerial deropements are much less frequent, they are more likely to result in injuries and those injuries are likely to be more severe.

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Summary Of Causes

The table below summarizes the main cause and contributing factors identified by BCSA incident investigations.

Table 7.1-2: Summary of Factors Contributing to Deropement Incidents Cause Contributing factor Qty Description Sideways forces or Passenger usage 19 Passenger skiing or snowboarding out of the tow path sudden forces applied to 19 Passenger loading or unloading error the cable 6 Passenger fell on tow path 1 Passenger swerved Excessive carrier 3 Swinging carrier during operation swing 3 Irregular or uncontrolled carrier retraction 3 Swinging carrier contacted tower/sheave 1 Excessive swing on ropeway start-up 1 Operator contacted carrier when removing snow Wind 3 High and/or strong winds Cable obstructed Weather 3 Ice accumulation Entangled 1 Carrier (T-seat) over the haul rope equipment 1 Carrier and winch line tangled Equipment Alignment 4 Poor sheave assembly alignment Component failure 1 Sheave assembly component failed Installation 1 Spring box installed backwards after servicing Operational error Lack of experience 1 Lack of operational experience at the installation location. No other ropeways operating in the same area.

The most frequent contributing factor to deropement incidents relates to how directly passengers interact with the equipment either along the surface lift tow path or at the loading and unloading area. The second most common contributing factor relates to carriers swinging during operation. These two factors (passenger interaction with equipment and swinging passenger carriers) combine to have influenced almost 79% of all deropements.Appendix A4 further breaks down Table 7.1-2 into aerial/surface ropeways and retained/not retained deropements. These two predominant contributing factors account for over 86% of all unretained deropements in BC.

Summary Of Deropement Incidents

BC has a thriving passenger ropeway industry that currently operates 126 aerial ropeways and 111 surface lift ropeways. Most incidents, including deropements occur in the winter season between November and April. Every year, passenger ropeways in BC report over five occurrences of a deropement incident. Incidents where the cable is not retained by the equipment, and subsequently falls to the ground, present a considerable risk to passengers or nearby people.

Since 2009, BC has reported a total of 71 deropement incidents with an average of 8.1 deropements on surface lifts and 2.0 deropements on aerial lifts per year. Approximately 45% of surface lift and 21% of aerial lift deropement incidents resulted with the rope not being retained.

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A total of nine injuries (from five incidents) have been reported since 2009 as a result of deropement incidents where the haul rope was not retained.

Deropement incidents were most frequent on equipment installations of zero to two years of age or between 15 and 20 years of age. No deropements were reported to have occurred on equipment installations that were between three and 14 years of age.

The vast majority of the deropements are a result of sideways loading on the cable. These sideways loads were induced by either direct passenger activity such as falling, skiing out of the designated path on surface lifts, unintended contact from a swinging passenger carrier (chair/T-bar) and other parts of the ropeway equipment.

Assessments of Regulated Work

Passenger ropeways safety officers assess new installations as well as operating equipment as part of BCSA’s administration of the Safety Standards Act. These physical assessments provide BCSA and its stakeholders with an understanding of strengths and weaknesses within the safety system and inform priorities for prevention, assessment and audit efforts. During each physical assessment of regulated work, safety officers identify hazards found, as well as work that does not comply with the Act, its regulations and technical codes and identify hazards found. These ‘as found’ hazards reflect what the safety officers discovered when they initially observed the duty holders’ work or equipment, and not the condition following completion of the interaction with the safety officer. Examples of SEVERE and MAJOR hazards found in 2015 is provided in Appendix B, along with the hazard rating scale. A listing of all SEVERE and MAJOR hazards found in 2015 is available at www.safetyauthority.ca/case-studies.

Figure: 7-3: PR Permits 2011-2015 Figure: 7-4: PR Inspection Results in 2015 Figure: 7-5: Hazards Recorded in 2015

2015 19 235 Fail 0 Severe 0 2014 27 230 Major 3 Condional Moderate 27 2013 235 Pass 145 23 Minor 83 2012 Insignificant 30 8 244 Pass 16 Compliant 18 2011 24 244 No rang/Not applicable 0

INSTALLATION PERMITS OPERATING PERMITS

Installation permit volumes were down slightly from 2014, which was most likely attributed to the challenges the ski industry faced from a low snow pack and low customer volume. These installation permits included permits for a new conveyor lift, a relocated T-bar and the remainder for alterations to existing ropeways. Of the 161 passenger ropeway inspections conducted in 2015, 145 were given a status of conditional pass. This indicates non-compliances were found at these inspections but they were not posing major or severe hazards and the contractor was relied upon to file a declaration to state the non-compliances were corrected. Sixteen inspections received an outcome status of pass where no non-compliances were issued.

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Stakeholder Engagement

The Passenger Ropeways Technology Advisory Committee met once in 2015, and the two working groups reporting to this committee continued their work:

• In late 2014, the Aging Ropeways Working Group drafted a survey regarding maintenance and record-keeping in order to assess the state of passenger ropeways in BC approaching the end of their design lifecycle. In 2015, the working group reviewed and revised the survey in order to obtain the best data possible. • The Passenger Ropeways Mechanic Certification Working Group discussed the various elements needed for a certification program. The program’s goal is to establish a verifiable and consistent method to give passenger ropeway maintenance personnel the knowledge, skill and ability required to perform their work correctly. It is anticipated that the work towards establishing principles in BCSA’s certification programs in 2016 will provide direction for this working group.

Online Education

A pilot online forum was utilized to host a Passenger Ropeway Safety Program’s session with clients and provide an update on the state of safety and certification standards.

Table 7-3: Passenger Ropeways Education Events Conducted in 2015 Title / Topic Qty of Participants Passenger Ropeway Online Forum (1) 38

Media Relations

BCSA took 13 media relations actions and produced one newsletter in 2015 related to passenger ropeways safety. A listing of all media relations can be found in Appendix G.

Licensing and Certification

BCSA requires that passenger ropeway equipment is installed, operated and maintained by qualified and knowledgeable professionals. In 2015, two licences were issued.

Table 7-4: New Passenger Ropeways Licences and Certificates of Qualification Issued Type Document Qty Issued in 2015 Reference: Qty issued in 2014 Licence Contractor Licence 2 3

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Enforcement

The following table summarizes the enforcement actions taken in the passenger ropeways sector in 2015. A listing of all compliance orders and sanctions is included in Appendix C.

Table 7-5: Passenger Ropeways Enforcement Actions Warning Notices Compliance Orders Sanctions Tampering or unsafe use of regulated equipment 0 1 0

Regulatory Instruments and Amendments

BCSA issues safety orders, directives and information bulletins to stop unsafe activity and provide clarification of regulatory requirements and interpretations. Additional details can be found in Appendix C or at www.safetyauthority.ca/regulations/passenger-ropeways.

Table 7-6: Passenger Ropeways Regulatory Instruments Type Doc No. Title/Description Amendment N/A Adoption of the new edition of the passenger ropeway and passenger conveyors code

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Safety Manager’s Discussion

A significant incident occurred in 2014 on an above-surface ropeway involving a full deropement that seriously injured four passengers. The learning activity from the investigation carried on into 2015 and BCSA published the Blue Deropement Investigation Report on June 26, 2015. BCSA concluded that the primary cause of the incident was low tension within the haul rope, directly caused by the counterweight being in contact with the ground within the counterweight pit. The report also identified numerous contributing factors including:

• Improper set up of counterweight and carriage monitoring circuits • Exposure of the counterweight to contamination • Poor understanding relating to the elements of the tensioning system and haul rope dynamics • Shape and design of the rope catching device • Distance between towers #1 and #2 to dampen normal passenger-loading dynamics

In 2015, the number of incidents reported lowered significantly. This low number of reported occurrences can most likely be attributed to a lower number of skier visits in the province due to a very low snow pack in various parts of the province. Of the incidents that did occur, one of note was related to a deropement that was attributed to a lack of awareness and understanding on procedures to make tower equipment alignment corrections. This learning, and those from the Blue Chairlift deropement investigation, contribute to our ever-growing case to implement a certification program for passenger ropeway mechanics

The new risk-informed Resource Allocation Program that was piloted in 2014 is now fully implemented in the Passenger Ropeway Safety Program. We continue to evaluate the factors and weightings that generate program scores and will make changes to ensure we are optimizing our resources the best way possible.

The start of the 2015-2016 ski season got off to a far better start than the previous season. A significant increase in snow pack has resulted in record skier visit numbers. This is expected to result in an increase in reported incidents due to more skier activity. An increase in new installation and alteration starts is also anticipated.

BCSA continues to refine data gathering related to the As Found Program. Hazard maps, that are used to inform as found findings, will be updated to reflect the learning from the field over the past year. Development and consultation for the Passenger Ropeway Mechanic Certification program will continue in 2016.

Jason Gill | Safety Manager | Elevating Devices | Passenger Ropeways | Amusement Devices

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