Advertisement

Seven improvement notices have been issued to Dreamworld by Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) officers in the wake of a deadly ride malfunction last month, as a minister reveals she expects the Gold Coast theme park to reopen by Christmas.

In a statement acknowledging the breaches, Dreamworld said none related to the safety of visitors and all the inspectors’ concerns would be addressed before the park reopened to the public.

It said along with the improvement notices, several “prohibition” notices were issued concerning the BuzzSaw ride, specifying concerns with the “maintenance safety harness anchor points” and an error regarding the “maintenance safety chain”.

Several of the notices related to Dreamworld’s adjoining facility, WhiteWater World.

The safety audit follows the accident last month on the Thunder River Rapids ride in which public servants Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozbeh Araghi were killed alongside 42-year-old Cindy Low.

Two young children escaped when a raft flipped into another raft.

A coroner’s investigation into the accident is ongoing, and the Thunder River Rapids has been permanently decommissioned.

Dreamworld chief executive officer Craig Davidson said the breaches identified by WHS involved procedural matters, paperwork improvements and the safety of staff and maintenance workers.

He said the notices would be addressed before the parks reopened.

In addition to that safety audit, he said there would be a multi-tiered review by Dreamworld’s own engineers, an international theme park safety expert and leading Australian amusement ride engineers, Pitt & Sherry.

Dreamworld outlined the improvement notices in a statement released late yesterday:

In addressing the three “prohibition” notices, Dreamworld said it would undertake “independent certification to ensure the ride manufacturer’s anchor systems comply with Australian standards”.

Minister ‘more than happy’ to go on rides

State Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace said she expected Dreamworld to reopen to the public before Christmas.

“My understanding is Dreamworld is anticipating to open before the busy Christmas time,” she said.

“I welcome that they are going to make sure that everything is ticked off before they do that.”

Asked if she would visit the park again, Ms Grace said she would “absolutely”.

“Although I’m one of those people that does get sick on some rides, so there may be some that I might give a miss.”

Life Saving Queensland to audit pools

The statement said Royal Life Saving Queensland representatives were on site this week to audit the pools and lifesaving procedures at WhiteWater World.

Mr Davidson said Dreamworld would “go well beyond legislative requirements” to ensure the facility’s 24 rides and 10 water slides “exceed even the most stringent of safety measures”.

“Dreamworld is Australia’s biggest theme park and we are layering three levels of engineering inspections on top of the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland audit,” he said.

“Our hearts and thoughts remain firmly with the families and their loved ones involved in the tragic incident and we will continue to keep their representatives informed of our plans.”

This post originally appeared on ABC News.

© 2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Read the ABC Disclaimer here.

Author

Comments

No Comments

Be the first to leave a comment