Weak controls before raft deaths: coroner

A whitewater rafting company had weak controls in place to manage the risk of collisions like the one that killed two students, a Queensland coroner has found.

Seongeun Choi, 24, and Sang Won Park, 20, were among 27 language students from Cairns College of English who took a Tully River rafting tour in February 2009.

Both died after the raft they were in was struck by another raft, diverting it to a more hazardous route, where it struck a rock and flipped.

Mr Park was trapped under the rock and his body could not be retrieved until the next day.

Ms Choi was extricated from under the rock but died in Cairns Base Hospital days later.

Coroner Kevin Priestley has been examining the rafting industry, and has already handed down his findings into the deaths of three tourists in 2007 and 2008.

In his findings on Ms Choi and Mr Park, delivered on Thursday, he said the company involved, RnR White Water Rafting, had relied on "river etiquette" to manage the movement of rafts in rapids.

"The serious weakness in this approach is demonstrated by the different understandings of guides about what is the river etiquette in specific situations," he wrote.

"I find the risk controls used by RnR in respect of collisions between rafts were weak."

RnR has taken remedial action by instructing guides to only enter the rapid concerned from the right, to enter one boat at a time, and to wait for an all-clear signal from the boat in front before continuing.

The company had also reviewed its policies and procedures, defining river etiquette, Mr Priestly wrote.

However he had "serious reservations" about the strength of these measures.

"At the very least, they are an attempt to address the risks that eventuated in this instance," he said.

"But without a comprehensive identification of all hazards and selection of appropriate control measures, other hazards may remain unaddressed."

The coroner recommended RnR include in its formal risk assessment of each set of rapids the prospect of collision between rafts and with rocks, and the potential for a flip.

He strongly suggested that RnR obtain external assistance with the risk management process.

The coroner has earlier advised he will hold a fresh inquest into current standards and regulations in the whitewater rafting industry.