Safety – Page 2 – Kathryn Woodcock, PhD CCPE ICAE PEng

Safety first when it comes to amusement rides

Outdoor Amusement Business Association ShowTime 2012, August, p. 23.

As the July long weekend approaches, many families may be thinking about heading to an amusement park or summer festival for a fun day riding stomach-dropping roller coasters, Ferris wheels and spinning swings. Rides can be thrilling, and even a little scary, but most of the sensation of danger is a clever illusion.

Five amusement tips for kids: how not to have a bad day

TORONTO, June 26, 2012 – As the Canada Day long weekend approaches, many families may be thinking about heading to an amusement park or summer festival for a fun day riding stomach-dropping roller coasters, Ferris wheels and spinning swings. Rides can be thrilling, and even a little scary, but most of the sensation of danger is a clever illusion, says Kathryn Woodcock, an amusement ride expert at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Safety first for amusement rides: tips for parents

Behaviour malfunction

a child is seen diving headfirst into an inflatable amusement device below label saying "no diving, enter feet first"

Are we on the right page when we are trying to prevent misuse in the public / consumer environment?

Statistics consistently show that amusement ride injury investigators identify human behaviour as antecedents to failure, including the omission of actions that were required, actions performed which should not have been, and actions that were not performed with sufficient speed and accuracy.

Engineering, the obligation

The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer is a moving experience. I keep the framed Obligation on my office wall immediately over my shoulder. Initiated by Prof. Haultain and written by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), the ritual was first performed in 1925 to remind graduating engineers about critical ethical principles in the practice of their calling of engineering. The cost of engineering failure may be significant harm to others, and there is no room for compromise on good workmanship.

Scary-safe rides

One of the most common questions I receive both in small-talk conversations and media interviews (such as _this one_), is how rides can be scary and safe at the same time. A student asserted to me just the other day that rides were “notoriously dangerous”. This is actually quite inaccurate.

Amusement ride safety: who “does” it?

Several people stand inside a covered amusement ride discussing what they are looking at, as patrons stand outside hoping to ride,

There is considerable diversity from jurisdiction to jurisdiction about portable carnival ride inspection. However no rides go uninspected.

Decision making: words and meaning

warning sign obscured with other text and structures

Decision-making succeeds when the decision produces a desirable outcome and fails when it produces an undesirable outcome. Decision-making can fail when a person does not perceive, ignores, cannot understand, or gives improper weight to a piece of relevant information.

Rider Behaviour: Keeping amusement rides safe and enjoyable

A trip to a theme park or carnival is often the highlight for families and friends every year. Although amusement riders are rarely injured on rides, most investigation reports have found that the riders behaved incorrectly prior to the accident event. A Canadian researcher is looking to change this through her research on amusement ride safety.

Paper: Content analysis of 100 consecutive media reports of amusement ride accidents

Woodcock, K., 2008. Content analysis of 100 consecutive media reports of amusement ride accidents. Accident Analysis and Prevention 40, 89–96. Link