Zigzag incident official Petzl statement

[Mark_Skyland]

Urgent Safety Notice.

 

Petzl have recalled ALL petzl Zigzags.

 

Please see attached statement from Petzl.

[ATTACH]122067[/ATTACH]

Edited April 25, 2013 by Mark_Skyland
Change of information from Petzl

[Mark Bolam]

Not working on mobile app?

[Mark_Skyland]

Try either of these two, first is a .doc file the second a .txt file(no picture with this one though)

 

Petzl Communication on the Zigzag april 15th 2013.doc

 

Petzl Communication on the Zigzag april 15th 2013.txt

[leafcut]

Was going to buy one of these-this has put me right off.

[Dan Earp]

Stihl cant see them bud?

[Rich2484]

Was going to buy one of these-this has put me right off.

 

Wasn't too keen on the zig zag when I first saw it. Kind of still the same. Not sure if I would ever buy one. Might try one first.

 

Can't see this isolated incident beign an excuse to not get one.

 

I have read the report and it comes accross to me that they are trying to avoid any claim that it was the zig zag at fault. But rather pointing at a carab fault. Just they way I have read it.

[Rich2484]

For you desert rat.

 

 

Safety Information: Petzl ZIGZAG mechanical prusik april 15th 2013

On Friday, April 12, Petzl was informed of an accidental fall in a training center in Germany. The injured person was moving at height using a Petzl ZIGZAG mechanical prusik. The first observations have shown that the fall was due to a failure of the rope end attachment hole. After hospitalization, the injured person returned home on April 14. We are deeply concerned and we wish him a very quick recovery.

Current information regarding the accident (as of April 15):

As of today, Petzl has been able to gather the following information:

- photos of the Petzl ZIGZAG and the rope end attachment hole - a preliminary telephone account by the injured person

This information seems to indicate that:

- The upper carabiner may have been cantilevered and cross loaded

- The injured person was descending while performing repeated, sudden stops while using the device in a training center.

Nevertheless, to have a clearer vision of the accident's cause, Petzl is in contact with the injured person to obtain the following missing information and equipment as quickly as possible.

- a description of the complete system used by the injured person

- the ZIGZAG, the two connectors, the rope and any other devices that may have been used.

Technical reminders

- ZIGZAG design:

- The ZIGZAG is CE-certified PPE and designed to resist static loads greater than 15 kN.

- The side plates are constructed with the same materials and adhere to the same side plate requirements as similar products (ID, GRIGRI, RIG).

- Use of connectors:

A carabiner should always be loaded on its major axis. If it is cross-loaded, side-loaded or loaded off axis, it can: - break under low loads (ex: gate breakage at 1 to 2 kN)

- or if cantilevered, it can transmit very high loads (4 to 5 times the applied load)

- Note:

Sudden stopping during a descent could transmit dynamic loads up to 3 to 4 kN. The combination of both incorrectly loaded carabiners and sudden stops could generate dynamic forces greater than 15 kN and exceed the minimum breaking strength of the attachment points of the connected device.

On-going testing

-Taking into account the information that we currently know of this incident, Petzl is now conducting a battery of tests to understand the precise causes of this accident. To date, our preliminary in-house tests do not show this potential failure even under high loads (cross-loaded, side-loaded or loaded off axis) of 10-15 kN. We are continuing different testing scenarios to try to understand the failure.

Follow-up action and Recommendations

-Petzl takes this accident and safety of its users very seriously. We will communicate the final results of our tests and our conclusions on our website by Tuesday, April 23, 2013.

- Until then, you can continue to use your ZIGZAG in accordance with the technical notice, ensuring that the attachment carabiner remains oriented on their major axis.

- As an additional measure of precaution, we recommend that you put in place a connector retaining solution that keeps the connectors oriented on their major axis.

Reminder:

We draw your attention to the following points, which are applicable to all metallic PPE:

- Inspect before use:

- the absence of cracks or fissures

- the absence of product deformation.

Here is an example of a ZIGZAG that should be retired

 

 

But can't upload the picture of the zig zag example.

[Dan Earp]

And the possibility of the climber fart arsing around! Doubt we'll every know

[Mark_Skyland]

Is it just the mobile app your having problems with?

 

Hopefully you can get the pic below but it is nothing new just the statement already posted in the zigzag failure thread.

 

Just posting it here as it was getting lost in that thread and Petzl do want people who purchased the zigzag to see the statement.

 

[Dan Earp]

Yes I'm using the mobile app, and thanks for reposting.

So that picture is zz after test petzl conducted