Amusement ride owner and safety examiner fined after fairground accident
The owner of a faulty fairground ride has been fined £2,000, after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that he had breached regulations put in place to protect the public, it has been revealed.
In November 2007, a ground-level spinning machine – known as the Hellraiser ride – at Suffolk’s annual Big Night Out collapsed.
Several cars on the attraction came loose and collided, injuring eight people, with one woman hospitalised with broken ribs and spinal damage.
Poor maintenance was found to have caused the accident and the HSE explained that this should have been noticed by the independent fairground inspector, who was also fined £8,000 in public liability charges.
Both men were told to pay costs of £1,000 each on top of their charges by Ipswich Crown Court.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Martin Kneebone, said the incident could have proved fatal because the Hellraiser ride was in ‘a poor state of repair’ and should not have been operating.
“High standards of maintenance and inspection are absolutely essential to ensure the safe operation of any ride,” he said.
Updated on 02/12/2009