Kathryn Woodcock, PhD CCPE ICAE PEng
Professor
In 2020, I was bowled over with the news that I was included on the Blooloop 50 Theme Park Influencer list, a highly regarded industry honour compiled by themed entertainment industry media outlet Blooloop, in association with Gateway Ticketing Systems. Looking over the other 49 people, I very much appreciated the inclusion in the list! What an honour to be listed in their company!
The fatal injury on the Schlitterbahn “Verrückt” waterslide has been reported as a decapitation.
Earlier accounts referred to a “neck injury”. Reporters enthusiastically parsed past Consumer Product Safety Commission reports and noted 28% of injuries in their dataset were head and neck injuries. They did not report that the CPSC data on amusement rides substantially overstates injury occurrence due to the inclusion of swan boats, ball pits, laser tag, corn mazes and other things that are not what you would popularly consider “amusement rides”. A study I published in the journal Safety Science in 2014 found the national estimate of actual amusement ride injuries was less than 2/3 of what CPSC data would suggest.
Continue reading “Report of rider injury”
There are many people involved in setting standards that make amusement rides and devices safe. The ASTM F24 standards are used in 19 countries, and counting. The committee has almost 900 members, and holds meetings three times annually. Meetings held in USA have almost 300 people participating in multiple concurrent sessions, literally poring over language used in standards to ensure that people following the standards will interpret the requirements as intended.
Continue reading “Who makes attractions safe?”
There is considerable diversity from jurisdiction to jurisdiction about portable carnival ride inspection. However no rides go uninspected.
Continue reading “Amusement ride safety: who “does” it?”