A recent investigation has exposed serious safety concerns at popular amusement parks, with a particular focus on one inspector who has a criminal conviction, raising alarm bells.
Reports of accidents involving young children being drenched in blood and riders being violently ejected from attractions like a ragdoll are highlighted in an upcoming episode of BBC Panorama scheduled for airing tonight.
Many travelling fairground sites and societies such as the Showmen’s Guild are said to have rejected proposed safety measures.
And the Adips (Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme) list has allowed controversial inspectors to continue in their job.
David Geary, the owner of DMG Technical and an inspector based in Wales, is under scrutiny in the documentary “Funfairs: How Safe Are They?” produced by the BBC.
After a five-year-old’s ankle was crushed by a rollercoaster at the Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza festival in North Wales, Mr Geary received a criminal conviction and a fine for failing to identify risks.
He also admitted breaching health and safety regulations and was handed a suspended prison sentence in 2018 after a ride at the Funderpark funfair in the village of Yiewsley in Hillingdon, west London, catapulted to a mother-of-eight from her seat.
His company, which admitted an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act, was fined £51,000.
An eight-year-old girl had previously died in Australia on the same ride and it was never used again in the country – but it was sold three years later, in 2017, to the UK
Ms Harrison suffered internal bruising, severe damage to both thighs, and more bruising all over her body
Another case involving Mr Geary relates to the Airmaxx 360 in Hull Fair which led Jade Harrison, then 21, to suffer a broken jaw and lost tooth when she was thrown 15ft out of her seat in October 2019.
An eight-year-old girl had previously died in Australia on the same ride and it was never used again in that country – but was sold three years later to the UK.
Mr Geary said his company had modified the ride following the Australia accident.
Ms Harrison suffered internal bruising, severe damage to both thighs and more bruising all over her body in the incident.
The Health and Safety Executive had formally warned Mr Geary about eight safety breaches over the past 10 years – though his registration with Adips (Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme) was only suspended in March this year.
The HSE has now said it is reviewing its industry safety guidance ‘to decide whether it, and the system it underpins, remains fit for purpose’.
The Panorama programme tells how former waitress Ms Harrison collided with a teenage boy and underwent a two-hour operation, needing metal plates in her jaw.
She spoke out about the ordeal which she says ‘could have killed her’ and called for more safety checks – with official figures showing there were 3,188 related injuries in England, Scotland and Wales between April 2014 and March last year.
After a five-year-old’s ankle was crushed by a rollercoaster at the Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza festival in North Wales, Mr Geary received a criminal conviction and a fine for failing to identify risks (file image)
The fairground rides were set up on Mostyn Street in Llandudno town centre (file image)
Speaking to the BBC, Ms Harrison – aged 21 at the time of the accident – described hearing a ‘clicking noise’ in her back and the ride going on for around a minute and a half before it changed direction, providing the last ‘concrete thing’ she remembered.
Ms Harrison told how she could feel herself ‘slip’ and that when she woke up she had a ‘bit of amnesia’ before starting to panic as she felt ‘something wasn’t right’ in her mouth as it felt like all her teeth had ‘gone’.
She also recalled her injuries, adding:Â ‘I could barely walk, I broke my jaw completely in half. I had damage to mainly back teeth on both sides.Â
‘I had internal bruising, severe damage to both thighs, and then just bruising all over my body, like black, purple bruises.’
Surgeons then had to remove two unsalvageable teeth from Ms Harrison’s mouth before placing three metal plates in her jaw – telling her they would ‘stay there’.
In December last year, a woman who was injured when a 180ft Christmas fairground ride crashed to the ground in Birmingham put other locals off from partaking in the festivities.
The City Starflyer ride is provided by funfair suppliers Danter Attractions and is described as ‘one of the tallest rides around’.Â
In an incident in Edinburgh, the victims’ father, Kevin McNulty, who was in the car on the ride behind his three children, aged 13, 12 and 7, described seeing it ‘come completely off’ before going smack bang into his own seat
Things soon spiral out of control as the ‘unthinkable’ happens and the circular vehicle goes flying
And only last month, a waltzer car came crashing out of a fairground attraction after it suddenly appeared to malfunction.
Footage taken at the Galactic Carnival Festival in Wester Hailed, Edinburgh showed the ‘unthinkable’ happening as the circular vehicle went flying.
Galactic Carnival Edinburgh issued an apology and remains under investigation.
Their statement said all rides undergo ‘extensive safety testing in line with government guidelines’ and inspection by adips.
They added: ‘This incident is now being investigated by third party inspection bodies and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).’
Ride inspector Alex Nicholls has now called for a major overhaul of safety at funfairs.
He said: ‘We can’t allow this to happen again. You know, the names will change, but if the game is the same, then we’re just going to have the same problems over and over.’
