Hot Air Ballooning is both a workplace and a tourist activity. It can be dangerous.
- Stephanie Bernoth went hot air ballooning at 5:00 am on a chilly Alice Springs morning. She wore a long scarf, wrapped twice around her neck, tied loosely at the front.
- As she walked past the inflation fan, the long lightweight tassels on her scarf were sucked into the fan. The tassels became entangled in the fan blades and the scarf pulled tightly around her neck. She later died from strangulation.
- Outback Ballooning owed a duty of care to its passengers to keep them safe. The crew breached the duty of care by failing to provide a safe path for passengers to board the balloon basket because the path went past the inflation fan and by failing to install a fan guard to prevent the scarf from being sucked into the fan blades.
- Outback Ballooning paid compensation to Ms Bernoth’s family for breach of duty of care.
- Outback Ballooning was fined $130,000 for not providing a safe workplace – which was in breach of Work Health & Safety Laws (WH&S).
