Greetings,
My name is Markus Leone. I established SafeZipline in response to a fatal death on a Queesland zipline a few years ago.
WA's network of aging flying foxes means it is only a matter of time before something tragic like that happens here. It's vital for our state economy and tourist industry to avoid it if possible. Plus, saving someone's life is the greatest gift to give another.
SafeZipline evolved as a natural extension of my core business Safelift Consultancy. You see, I have been involved with heights related and high risk industries my whole life. I am an advanced rigger as well as WorkSafe HRWL assessor and an owner operator of an RTO that delivers HRWL subjects.
Professional Background
20 years of experience in the Royal Australian Navy gave me a solid background in rigging, lifting, haulage and everything related to roping. I've spent a further 2 decades teaching people how to be safe using equipment for high risk work. You could say training is in my DNA.
In 2019 I was contacted by the Queensland Department of Occupational Health and Safety. While investigating an incident they sought my professional opinion for contributing factors in relation to the incident. It's rewarding that my recommendations have helped to make their industry safer.
Now I work proactively to do the same for WA. Many ziplines in Western Australia arearound 18 to 25 years old or more. Most of them were built using bushcraft skills by people of unknown experience and unqualified to do so. Trusting your life to them is a matter of luck.
Few of these ziplines meet the Australian Standard last revised in 2016. All of them need to be inspected and possibly overhauled. I feel priveleged to be in a position to do so. It's now my mission to make sure no participant ever experiences the horror of a collapsing zipline.
Personal Passions
My love for rope related pursuits extends way beyond work. Recreationally I run Friends of Adventure, an outdoors based activities group. A large part of that centres around abseiling and teaching people the craft.
Of course, abseiling is just another form of rigging. Hopefully you see that ziplines are not just a job. They're part of a much larger tapestry that is my whole life. It's what I live for.
Welcome to SafeZipline.
Markus