Thread: Man killed at four-wheel-drive park

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Originally Posted by Dave_S

The news report says the vehicle was on an "extreme" track. That word has become so over used in advertising and lifestyle descriptions that these days you can get just about any product you can think of with "extreme" written on it.

It wasn't always that way. I spent a bit of time in the French Alps when people were starting to describe some sports as being extreme. Basically that description was applied to activities where if you made a mistake, you were probably going to die. I knew 3 guys who did just that in two months. They were all skiers. The carnage was much worse among the climbers.

The point I'm trying to make is that sometimes we tend to forget about the possible consequences of what we're doing. I don't know why a chain was being used in this particular instance, but I do know that sometimes no matter how good your gear is and how skilled you are, a little mistake, equipment failure or unforseen quirk of nature can have severe implications.

That doesn't mean we should all take up knitting. But it might be a good time to go over your recovery gear and replace anything that's worn before you have to see whether it's good for one last time.

I believe many accidents and deaths while using "Recovery" gear could be avoided by proper education of users of this gear.
For instance, manufacturers and retailers of Winches, cables, chains, tow straps almost without exception advertise the Guaranteed Breaking Strain (GBS) of their products and not the Safe Working Load (SWL) or Working Load Limit (WLL), for instance how many 10,000lb winches with 10mm wire cable do you see advertised.
A 10mm winch cable (depending on quality) would have a SWL or WLL of around 1100 (2420lbs) to 1200 kgs (2640lbs), on a good day.
The SWL or WLL is designed as a Safety Factor (SF) because once you start using and abusing this equipment it deteriorates, e.g. broken wires, kinks, frayed straps, damaged chains.
General purpose use of this gear usually has a Safety Factor (SF) of 5 or 6, which means the SWL or WLL is one fith or one sixth of the GBS to cater for damage and usual wear and tear inflicted on this stuff.
If a chain was used in this tragic case, then it should not have been used, chains are not designed to withstand sudden severe shock loads, they have NO GIVE, a wire cable has SOME GIVE, but in cases as described in this instance a Fabric strap should have been used, recovering a vehicle in circustances where a shock may be applied (inadvertently), it always pays to have a back up line attached in case the main line is broken.
When and if you go to buy a Winch, Cable, Shackles, snatch block, Straps, ASK THE SELLER IF THE FIGURES QUOTED (ADVERTISED) ARE THE SWL OR THE WLL OR THE GBS, IF THEY CANT TELL YOU DON'T BUY IT.
Only ever buy shackles that are rated, the thru bolt (pin) should be thicker than the body of the shackle and should have embossed SWL or WLL on the body of the shackle.
I would love to know exactly what happened, it's a shame we will find out from the Coroner, my sympathies to the Family, Regards Frank.

Also do you all where a seat belt when 4WDing:

"Sadly it seems that a lack of seatbelt may have caused his death. I see so many people who insist on taking their seatbelts off as it 'restricts' them offroad. They are there for a reason... please use them."

(unverified statement on outer limits board)

Very sad and my condolences to the family.
Using chains especially shock loading them is frought with danger and something I would never use if any form of shock loading was involved. You also need to know the history of the chain and how to read and interperate the markings. Its just luck no one was hurt by the chain as well. As all riggers and doggers know it is not appropriate use of a chain.
I would personally only use a chain to secure or drag after I had done a thorough inspection of the chain and knew it was suitable. Worn or elongated eyes are the first indication. Would be interesting to know if the chain was a rated item or just a hardware item. Shame the lesson had to be learnt with such catostrophic results.

Originally Posted by p38arover

Sound like the same incident. That's where Cityview is.

Thanks edited my post to avoid confusion..

Originally Posted by CraigE

Very sad and my condolences to the family.
Using chains especially shock loading them is frought with danger and something I would never use if any form of shock loading was involved. You also need to know the history of the chain and how to read and interperate the markings. Its just luck no one was hurt by the chain as well. As all riggers and doggers know it is not appropriate use of a chain.
I would personally only use a chain to secure or drag after I had done a thorough inspection of the chain and knew it was suitable. Worn or elongated eyes are the first indication. Would be interesting to know if the chain was a rated item or just a hardware item. Shame the lesson had to be learnt with such catostrophic results.

Like every accident, there was a chain (no pun intended) of events, and breaking the chain anywhere would have prevented the death. Just to note a few links in this chain:-

1. Putting the wheel over the edge in the first place.
2. Use of chain in an unsuitable application.
3. Failure to use a safety line in case of the chain breaking
4. Failure to use a seat belt.
5. Perhaps use of unrated chain or fittings or use of unsafe towing points (if these rather than the chain gave way)

And so on. My point is that you cannot say, with this, as with any accidental death, that there was a single "cause" and concentrate on it to the exclusion of the other links in the chain - in the next case, that particular link may not be present, but the one(s) ignored in the present investigation may have been just as important (although in this case, from the quoted reports, the use of chain and failure to wear a seat belt would seem to be the most important factors).

Chain actually has the advantage over other materials that it does not have much give, so that injury or damage from released strain (on breakage) is unlikely, as well as being very difficult to cut against rocks etc. But as pointed out, for vehicle recovery where shock loads may occur, and the possibility of the vehicle or anything else falling, it is not a good choice, although it may be good, for example, with a vehicle bogged on flat ground, and is definitely the choice for e.g. snigging strainer posts.

John

Best to wait for coroner's report before jumping to any speculative opinions.

Any death is tragic and if any family members or friends ever get to read this - my condolences.

Originally Posted by 29dinosaur

Best to wait for coroner's report to jumping to any speculative opinions.

Any death death is tragic and if any family members or friends ever get to read this - my condolences.

That is largely my point - there will not be a single cause anyway. Like all of us here I agree the death was tragic, and my condolences go to the family and friends - and I hope it was not someone from here or a friend or relative of theirs.

John