By Andrew Mitchell
It’s been almost five years since North Vancouver’s Richard Kinar, a former freestyle skier, began a crusade to establish national standards for helmet design and use in skiing, snowboarding and small wheel sports like skateboarding and inline skating.
In that time he has had his victories — the endorsement of the Canadian Federation of Municipalities and politicians at every level of government, and support from the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Insurance Bureau of Canada, and various sports and medical organizations.
On Monday, Feb. 12, Kinar’s helmet campaign was the subject of a CBC Radio report. A feature news segment on the issue is also planned. Next week he will be making a presentation at the Pacific Coast Brain Injury Conference in Vancouver, where helmet standards and use will be a focal issue of discussions.
Still, Kinar is frustrated by the lack of attention to the issue at the federal level.
Kinar sees helmet standards as a “no-brainer”, no pun intended, just as when the Canadian government took the lead on establishing standards for hockey helmets and bike helmets.
“The way I see it the federal government is putting youth and everyone at risk by not addressing the issue the proper way, which is through hazardous product legislation,” he said. “This is at a time when we’re encouraging people to be active, encouraging kids to be active for their health, and using the 2010 Olympics to get people into sports like skiing and snowboarding.”
Kinar’s helmet campaign, called the Kinar Project, was prompted by his discovery that there are no standards for skiing and snowboarding helmets made or sold in Canada.
He was working as a speed controller at a Lower Mainland mountain when he saw two children collide. Although both were wearing helmets and moving relatively slowly, one of the children was knocked unconscious.
After seeing how a helmet probably saved his son’s life after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle, Kinar decided to do some investigation. He was shocked to discover that there are no standards for ski and snowboard helmets sold in Canada, and that some helmets on the market offer little protection against head injury — potentially making injuries worse.
After more investigation, Kinar has also discovered that there are no standards for helmets used in skateboarding, in-line skating and other small wheel sports.
Kinar has since lobbied government to create a set of national standards and then impose the Hazardous Product Act to ensure that all helmets sold in Canada meet those standards. Currently hockey and bike helmets have hazardous product status, making it all but impossible to purchase gear that doesn’t meet CSA standards or possibly foreign standards recognized by the CSA.
The fact that some helmets meet CSA standards while others don’t can be confusing for consumers, says Kinar. People may mistakenly believe their helmets do meet some kind of national standards. They may also not know whether the helmet they purchase is designed for multiple impacts, like most hockey and cycling helmets.
To date, Kinar says the B.C. government is taking the issue more seriously than the federal government.
“So far the B.C. government has contributed $50,000 for standards for ski and snowboard helmets by the CSA,” said Kinar. “What’s interesting is that the B.C. government has said it’s a goal to raise physical activity 20 per cent in the province by 2010, and recognizes that there is a risk there, and that many (head) injuries are predictable and preventable. The federal government has set a goal of raising physical activity 10 per cent, but has not even begun to recognize what that could mean in terms of injury.”
Part of the issue extends from the recent flux at the federal government, with two elections in the past three years. As each new government has taken power, Kinar has had to start all over again — petitioning the Minister of Industry for $650,000 to complete the work started on helmet standards by the CSA, and the Minister of Health to enact the Hazardous Product Act.
It’s not that there’s a lack of information out there on the issue. Kinar regularly refers to three medical studies that suggest helmet use in skiing and snowboarding can reduce the risk of head injury by anywhere from 50 to 88 per cent — complemented by studies that show a reduction in head injuries in cycling and hockey where helmet standards are in force. As well, he has research on the cost of head injuries to Canadian taxpayers and insurance companies, making an economic case for national standards.
For example, injuries cost Canadians an estimated $14.7 billion a year, according to SmartRisk, a group funded by the Insurance Bureau of Canada. In B.C., furthermore, most of those injuries are considered to be preventable.
Conversely, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, every dollar spent on helmets achieves a $29 reduction in health care costs.
If Kinar is successful in lobbying for new standards for all sports helmets in Canada he says his work will only be half done. Regulations ensuring helmet use, similar to cycling laws, are next.
Kinar is currently discussing the issue with SafeBC, an organization created to reduce the number of preventable injuries in the province, and the Workers’ Compensation Board to make it mandatory for mountain workers to wear helmets while skiing and snowboarding. Workers are already required to wear helmets while operating snowmobiles.
Kinar also believes helmets should be mandatory for people taking lessons in skiing and snowboarding, believing that head injuries are not just preventable but also predictable in those situations.
As an example, he cites the case of a South African visitor to Whistler who hit a tree and sustained a head injury during a ski lesson. A helmet could have reduced the severity of the injury or eliminated the injury completely.
For its part, Whistler-Blackcomb says helmets are mandatory for kids 12 and under participating in mountain programs, and offers helmet rentals for $5 along with equipment rentals. However, in their experience education is generally better in preventing injuries than simply requiring helmets.
“We do recommend that everyone considers to wear one,” said Christina Moore, manger of public relations and communications for Whistler-Blackcomb. “As we do with the general public, we encourage all of our staff to wear helmets. Helmet studies that we have reviewed are not conclusive about the benefits and for that reason we are still monitoring the progress of these studies and their findings.
“We do believe that in many circumstances helmets are beneficial but at the same time there appears to be evidence that the use of helmets promotes a feeling of being invincible and encourages some people to take greater risks. There appears to be data that show taking greater risks often results in more serious head trauma even when wearing helmets.
“It’s a bit like the people who drive SUVs on the Sea to Sky Highway thinking they can drive faster without any problems and of course we all know that there are as many SUVs in the ditch or involved in accidents as there are regular vehicles.”
Kinar also believes public education on helmet use — the reasons for wearing them, their limitations, and how to maintain them and wear them properly — is essential for any helmet program to be successful. Some of the $650,000 he is requesting for the CSA would go towards a public education program.
As for coming up with a definitive study on the benefits of helmets, Kinar believes more data and endorsements from the medical community will come out of next week’s brain injury conference.
Sidebar:
• Preventable injuries cost $852 million each year in B.C., with indirect costs totalling $1.2 billion
• Every year 400,000 British Columbians are injured and 2,000 die from preventable injuries (SafeBC)
• The average acute care cost of an acquired brain injury is $6,867.59 per day.
• Ontario estimates that the cost of treating head injuries from recreational sport is $85.5 million each year, and more than $100 million per year for the rest of Canada.
