Draft safety guidelines for commercial whitewater boarding operations were circulated at the inaugural meeting of the New Zealand Whitewater Boarding Association on Saturday.
They are being developed in consultation with operators and guides, the Tourism Industry Association and Qualmark and are expected to be in place by the end of the year.
The guidelines aimed to improve safety and help build consistency in the industry.
Facilitated by the New Zealand Rafting Association and sponsored by Maritime New Zealand (MNZ), the weekend workshop allowed knowledge and techniques, such as the in-house safety procedures of individual companies and the rescue training of the rafting association, to be shared.
Groups rotated between on-water scenarios based at training stations at the Roaring Meg beside the rapid-flowing Kawarau River.
MNZ adventure tourism safety auditor Colin Sonneveld, of Tauranga, said the first station taught participants first aid and CPR, while the next taught guides how to improvise by making a harness then abseiling into the river to reach a dummy and haul it up the bank.
"The next station is on lowered rescuer techniques, where they use a rescue life jacket with a reversible harness on it and simulate lowering someone to an entrapment," Mr Sonneveld said.
"They familiarise themselves with rescue PDFs, or personal floatation devices."
Another station aimed to increase confidence when dealing with river hazards by probing undercut rocks to search for trapped river-users.
"The last station simulates a rope entanglement and they have to cut themselves free using a river knife," Mr Sonneveld said.
"What they learn from that is where they're carrying their knife.
"Is it accessible with one hand? Is it sharp enough to cut through rope quickly?"
The workshop and guidelines were part of an industry-wide safety review carried out following the investigation into the death in April of English tourist Emily Jordan who had been river-boarding on the Kawarau River.
Mr Sonneveld said the industry was interested in creating a national standard of qualification for river boarding and sledging operations.
