WorkSafe has uncovered multiple failures that contributed to a teenager’s death on a school caving trip in Northland last year.

Whangārei Boys’ High School student Karnin Petera drowned in floodwaters from torrential rain at Abbey Caves in May 2023. Sixteen other students on the trip and their two supervisors were lucky to survive.

Karnin’s parents contacted the school multiple times to express their concerns about the weather in the lead-up to the trip, but were told it would go ahead as the school didn’t expect heavy rain until later.

A full day before the group ventured in, MetService had issued an orange weather warning forecasting heavy rain. The school’s own risk assessment for the caving trip noted it would be cancelled in the event of heavy rain warnings. However, WorkSafe found there was no shared understanding among organisers and decision-makers of exactly what heavy rain meant, or when trips would be cancelled.

Overall, the school Board had ineffective oversight of high-risk activities and critical decisions, and its emergency planning failed to identify the risk of rising water trapping students while caving. The Board fully cooperated with WorkSafe throughout the entire investigation.

“This tragedy is the worst nightmare of any parent, and could easily have involved multiple casualties. Our heartfelt sympathy remains with Karnin’s friends and whānau who continue to mourn his loss, and the survivors who live with ongoing impacts,” says WorkSafe’s Inspectorate Head, Rob Pope.

“Outdoor education plays a crucial role in providing students with valuable, real-world learning experiences that enhance their overall education. However, there must be gold standard risk management whenever schools take rangatahi into the great outdoors. This drowning should be a moment for every school board in the country to ensure its oversight of outdoor education is robust – and if you’re at all unsure, get an expert involved,” says Rob Pope.

Education outside the classroom (EOTC) safety management systems should be regularly reviewed by school boards.

“It is essential that the person responsible for EOTC in each school is registered on the EOTC coordinators database and participates in ongoing professional development, so schools can continue delivering safe, engaging, and high-quality education outside the classroom," says Education Outdoors New Zealand’s chief executive, Fiona McDonald.

Schools must manage their risks under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. WorkSafe is proactively engaging with the Ministry of Education, Education Review Office, and Education Outdoors NZ to raise awareness of the issues and drive improvements across the sector.

Read more guidance from Education Outdoors New Zealand: https://eonz.org.nz/eotc-management/eotc-smp-template-and-tool-kit-forms/

Background:

• The Whangārei Boys’ High School Board was sentenced at Whangārei District Court on 27 September 2024.
• The charges were filed against the legal entity of the Board, not individuals.
• Reparation payments of more than $500,000 were ordered but the details are suppressed.
• The Board was charged under sections 36(2), 48(1) and 2(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
  • Being a PCBU, having a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking, namely the outdoor education caving activity to Abbey Caves Reserve, did fail to comply with that duty, and that failure exposed other persons, including Karnin Petera, to a risk or death or serious injury.
• The Board was charged under sections 36(1)(a), 48(1) and 2(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
  • Being a PCBU, having a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers who work for the PCBU while the workers were at work in the business or undertaking, namely undertaking an outdoor education caving activity to Abbey Caves Reserve, did fail to comply with that duty, and that failure exposed workers to a risk of death or serious injury.

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