Safety advocates seek certification
The helmet you wearskiing and snowboarding may not be as safe as you think, because snow sport helmets in Canada are not required to meet specific safety standards.
The Canadian Standards Association has specific standards for hockey and bike helmets, but doesn’t have similar standards to certify ski and snowboard helmets.
That’s something safety advocate and former pro-skier Richard Kinar said is not good enough.
“Without safety standards specific to skiing and snowboarding in Canada, people could be wearing something as safe as a bag of milk on their head and not know it,” he said.
Kinar would like to see the federal government get behind an initiative B.C.’s provincial government created to fund the CSA’s development of a skiing and snowboarding helmet certification.
He said that if the federal government focused on health care prevention instead of treatment, taxpayers could be saved a lot of money. However, some in the skiing and snowboarding industry do not see the need to have specific Canadian standards.
Rob McSkimming, vice president of business development at Whistler Blackcomb, said he is confident the Burton helmets used by the ski and board school are safe, because they meet the American ASTM standard.
“It’s not a question of which country the standard comes from,” he said. “We have had no evidence to suggest the helmets are not sufficient”
McSkimming said safety is something of utmost importance to Whistler Blackcomb.
“It is something we are constantly thinking about and talking about,” he said. “And right now we are comfortable with the helmets that we are using.”
Tom McIllfaterick chief executive officer of the Canadian Snowboard Federation thinks a Canadian certification of snowboarding helmets should be developed.
McIllfaterick is concerned with a lack of standard, because it could leave unsuspecting snowboarders vulnerable.
“Right now some of the stuff that passes as head gear is probably not up to standard,” he said.
Megan Zimmerman of Alpine Canada agrees. She said a safety level for skiing helmets should be established in Canada, because there is a standard for other sport helmets such as hockey and biking.
In March 2005, the government of British Columbia presented $50,000 to the Canadian Standards Association to support the initial development of safety standards for helmets used for snowboarding and skiing.
Spokesperson, Anthony Toderian, said the CSA is continuing to approach each Provincial/Territorial government requesting additional funding for a ski and snowboard helmet standards programs.
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