New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 3A - CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Chapter 55 - MANUAL OF REQUIREMENTS FOR RESIDENTIAL CHILD CARE FACILITIES
Subchapter 9 - ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES
Section 3A:55-9.9 - Ropes initiatives and rock climbing
Universal Citation: NJ Admin Code 3A:55-9.9
Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The facility shall ensure that staff members:
1. State the objectives
of the ropes course or climbing trip to the children;
2. Emphasize the importance of safety procedures
of each initiative to the children before starting the activity;
3. Allow each child to decide whether or not to
participate in a ropes course;
4.
Inspect the ropes before each group of children uses them; and
5. Demonstrate effective observation ("spotting")
and how one is secured by a rope ("belayed").
(b) The facility shall prohibit:
1. Smoking near the ropes;
2. The wearing of jewelry, loose clothing and
hair, and eyeglasses that are not secured that may be hazardous to participants or
spotters;
3. Unsafe practices including,
but not limited to, solo climbing, hanging upside down, throwing people or
over-straining; and
4. The activity
known as the "electric fence," in which a rope is attached to trees or poles and
suspended four feet from the ground in a circle, and children standing inside the
rope are expected to get out without touching the rope or passing under the
rope.
(c) The facility shall ensure that persons on high ropes or rock climbing activities:
1. Are individually secured with an approved rope,
or "belayed"; and
2. Wear helmets that
are fastened under the chin.
(d) The facility shall document and maintain on file at the site of the ropes course or at the administrative office that all belay ropes are:
1. Approved by the Union of
International Alpine Association (UIAA);
2. Visually inspected by staff members before use
and discarded if the rope appears frayed or damaged; and
3. Incorporated into a system developed by the
facility for measuring the rope's usable life. This system shall include a log for
each rope as well as a standard (that is, logged for use and retired at four years
from the date of purchase, or in a rock climbing element, retired after the rope has
sustained the number of falls the manufacturer's label indicates the rope can
sustain).
(e) The facility shall ensure that all carbiners that are used to secure belay ropes are constructed of steel or a metal of equal strength and hardness, and have a locking gate.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New Jersey may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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