The news article describes...

...the outcome of a zipline incident that happened in 2020.

Given an afternoon with free-flow coffee, I'm sure we can come up with a long list of ways to mitigate the risks inherent in the zipline activity. However, sometimes we may overlook the principle of 'collective safety'.

First, let me state upfront that the burden of responsibility lies mainly with the activity instructor and organising entity, because the participants have no prior training or experience - the duty of care aspect is not in dispute.

However, it is not incorrect (and I daresay even desirable) to encourage participants to play a more active part in the safety process.

Allow me to illustrate with two examples that might be applied to the zipline activity:

1. Sharing a mnemonic with participants e.g 'ABCD' (Anchor, Belay, Carabiner and Device) so that both participant and instructor help each other ensure that the process is complete. Both can recite the mnemonic at the despatch point - this helps the participant to be more assured, and the instructor has an additional (non-threatening or -pressuring) way to ensure he/she is doing the right thing.
2. Putting up pictures or posters of correctly-worn harnesses, locked/unlocked carabiners etc. allows the participant to identify visually if the processes/actions are correctly applied. The instructor can ask the participant to verify using such visual aids. Again, this could help with reassurance on the participant's part and compliance on the instructor's part. At the very least, it's something else to engage participants waiting their turn on the zipline.

The above can of course be tweaked to match the participants' cognitive ability.

Personally, on the ziplines I've worked at or visited, no. 1 is quite common, but for no. 2, not so much (if at all).

There is great potential for getting participants to be more actively involved in observing safe practices in activities. Some points for consideration:

1. While safety is of course a serious matter, it can be made fun or less-threatening in its enforcement.
2. Practitioners have to put aside their ego and adopt a more collaborative stance with their participants.
3. There should be no doubt or misunderstanding that the final say lies with the activity instructor.

This is why I use the words 'collective safety' rather than 'collective responsibility', because the latter is neither entirely relevant nor necessarily true.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/freelance-instructor-jailed-schoolgirl-fell-11m-flying-fox-suffering-fractures-4149081?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0qVrGLq176MU3-brBBq6ZW0iKHfsmFBHFC_y0a195JWvQWnMlcPMWgE44_aem_AQLQNAqKXuefY1ZubzLjCdNJjNcR6Wonf-OTgjvimpS7-V_e4f8hg9tzKW1qRmsuy2Jdfhb3yLu9bewGB8IyoNbJ