Surf lifesaving race that claimed teen’s life ‘should have been postponed’
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Version 0 of 1. A surf lifesaving race that claimed the life of a teenage competitor should have been postponed, a workplace health and safety inspector has told the inquest into the boy’s death. Matthew Barclay, 14, vanished in rough seas during the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships at Kurrawa beach on the Gold Coast on March 28, 2012. The inspector, Peter Hurrey, himself a lifesaver, compiled a report that found adequate procedures were in place at the event. But he told a coronial inquest in Brisbane on Monday that Matthew’s race should have been delayed because an inflatable rescue boat was not in the water at the time. The inquest has previously heard the device was stranded on the beach because a new driver couldn’t be found in time. Hurrey said the decision to start the race was “problematic” from a workplace health and safety point of view partly because there was a plunging wave with a shallow bank. “The fact that you’re dealing with kids who aren’t as qualified in one sense and the fact that you didn’t have the safety craft in position ... I think it should probably have been either delayed until that was in place and moved ... to where the break wasn’t as bad,” he told the inquest. Hurrey also criticised an iPad application used by officials to rate the conditions during competition. The inquest previously heard the application described the under-15 boys as being “at risk” but that conclusion was dismissed as “user error” by Surf Life Saving Australia’s coastal risk manager. Hurrey said the application attempted to make a “quantitative” assessment of conditions based on the user’s subjective judgment, and the results could be misleading. “It’s worse than useless in one sense because it can give you a false sense of what you’re doing is correct,” he told the court. The investigator agreed there was a breakdown in the system of communication that day, because lifeguards’ concerns about the conditions weren’t passed on to senior officials. His report also referred to a “can do” attitude within SLSA, potentially leading to a reluctance to cancel events. “Earlier in the day ... we know that the boats were assessed as too risky and [officials] moved those events,” he said. “Going back to Saxon Bird’s inquest, too, the coroner there, coroner Barnes, noted his concern when parties at that stage expressed a view that they shouldn’t race and the officials were reluctant to cancel those events.” Saxon Bird was 19 when he died during a surf ski race at the same beach during the national titles in 2010. Matthew’s younger sister Lauren was visibly upset as she left the Brisbane magistrates court building after Hurrey’s evidence. Her father Stephen said he was relieved the hearing was drawing to a close. “Some points are very difficult to listen to,” he told reporters outside the building. Stephen Barclay said he would like to see firm recommendations about the way surf lifesaving carnivals were run to prevent a similar tragedy. The inquest continues. |