Frequently Asked Questions

The Accident Project was created by Mandy Stewart and Todd Domeck, of Experiential Resources (ERi). Having both been impacted by major accidents in their careers, including a 2011 fatality within the company, they understand the importance of sharing these stories and taking steps to do better. The challenge course and aerial adventure community has been without an open venue for those who value sharing lessons learned. This initiative is a result of Todd and Mandy’s effort to help resolve a long unmet need: creating a way for people within our community and industry to learn from each other and do better.

The hope is that through community participation, the beneficiaries will be the industry professionals as well as the end users. By sharing our close calls and accidents, we can learn from them and minimize future accidents for everyone. The system is set up as a venue for pure information sharing, without judgment. It is intended to be a resource to increase public safety, with no monetary benefit to anyone.

Currently the intention is to share the collected incidents with people who make a submission, and to work on creating a practical opportunity for sharing with others who would like to receive the information. Depending on community response, the results of reporting will be shared annually, or quarterly. If there is interest and participation from our community, we will commit to putting resources into creating a searchable, online database. At minimum a basic spreadsheet with submitted information will be shared, with the hope that there is enough information and interest to expand to a more comprehensive breakdown of information gathered. We’re currently seeking partnerships with industry organizations who are interested in supporting these efforts. If you think you can help, please contact us!

Yes! As long as the facts of the incident are shared in a way that people can learn from it, we’re glad to accept all submissions.

Our viewpoint is that if the infomation being shared is factual, that no one should be worried about personal impacts to liability or insurance. The major liability really comes from the actual incidents that happen. We believe that no one should put fear of shame or being sued above the duty we all have to do the best job we can to increase public safety. In fact, many attorneys will tell you that the mindset and habit of putting humans first instead of worrying primarily about shielding yourself from litigation actually prevents potential litigation from happening, or escalating. With that being said, allowing the community to learn from your incident or deciding to keep it quiet is a personal ethical decision that each person has to make for themselves.

Everyone. Whether you are a professional with decades of experience or a first year guide/facilitator or a guest on a zipline tour, everyone’s viewpoint has value and can be learned from. Submissions indicate the person’s relationship to the incident (witness, injured party, etc.) and allow others to view the incident through their lens.

Submitters’ information will not be publicly released, only their relationship to the incident and the industry. We ask for your contact information in order to provide you with others’ reports, and in case we would like clarifying information. With that being said, there’s nothing preventing someone from being discreet if they so choose. The most important part is sharing facts so we can all learn.

No. And we don’t ask for that information. We ask for general geographic location, but nothing that will identify a particular course. We ask that narratives are clear in identifying individual roles and specific systems and equipment in use, and that’s purely in the interest of clarity in conveying what happened. You can use false names, or identify people as “Employee 1”, “Guest 1”, etc. This isn’t about calling anyone out, it’s about accident prevention.

Both close calls (where no one gets hurt, but could have) and accidents (where someone does get hurt) have reporting value. We can learn from all of it. You have the option to identify what type of incident it is in your report.

This system is for everything that happens on a challenge course or aerial adventure attraction, from construction, to training, inspection, and ongoing operations. There are even options to report trespasser situations. We’re all in this together. No matter what your individual role is, your incident report has the potential to help the overall community do better.

No. While English is the creators’ primary language, we will gladly take reports in whatever language you like. The intention is to aggregate reports and share them, period. Depending on the reports received, resources may be applied to translate, but that will be dictated by the level of use. The most important thing at this stage is that we start building a culture of sharing information, however that can be accomplished.

Over the course of decades, we’ve seen and heard stories from all facets of the industry. Those stories are typically shared person to person, with no opportunity for anyone not personally connected to those individuals, companies, or courses to learn from what happened. If we’re going to have the largest positive impact possible, we have to find a way to share our collective experiences broadly across our professional community. Until and unless this happens, we’re not collectively doing whatever we can to prevent the next tragedy. If our efforts result in even one person going home safely to their family instead of to a hospital, or worse, it will be worth it. And that’s why it matters.