Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[Lee]

Apparently the fence plank had just dropped, and staff were already on their way to fix it. Yes, the fence could have been maintained better, but it was one fence plank, easily missed.

The girl's parents should really have stopped her from running too far ahead and too far to the side tbh.

I'm sympathetic for the girl and her family, I really am, but I think 150K is far too much.

That isn't what the H&S found though, it didn't just 'apparently drop [sic].' It quite literally failed in its function due to a series of poor maintenance and lack of general care. The park has a legal and moral responsibility to protect all staff and guests and they fell catastrophically short of this.

I've been at the recieving end of Merlins lack of H&S consideration and genuinely believe a fine of £150k is far below the threshold they should be charged. I hope they settled fairly with the girl and her family and continue to offer support until it is no longer required.

[Benb]

I've been at the recieving end of Merlins lack of H&S consideration and genuinely believe a fine of £150k is far below the threshold they should be charged.

Out of interest, what happened to you then & at which park/attraction?

To me Alton Towers, Thorpe park and other merlin attractions I've visited recently seem better managed in respects to H&S than Chessington as of late. It'd be very interesting if it was one of the others, as that'd have the potential to show a more systematic failure of H&S across the entire company, rather than just within one attraction.

[Morgan]

It's because Chessington is under-loved

[Lee]

Out of interest, what happened to you then & at which park/attraction?

To me Alton Towers, Thorpe park and other merlin attractions I've visited recently seem better managed in respects to H&S than Chessington as of late. It'd be very interesting if it was one of the others, as that'd have the potential to show a more systematic failure of H&S across the entire company, rather than just within one attraction.

I'm not going to discuss that on a public forum :lol but it wasn't Chessington. It's a genuine lack of maintenance in general it seems.

It's because Chessington is under-loved

Not so. H&S should be any businesses first priority (covered under the general umbrella term of safety). Not matter how loved or under loved an attraction is should have no bearing on the responsibilities of the company. They either failed to spot it, or failed to fix it - either is inexcusable.

[TheBeast]

It's because Chessington is under-loved

Not so. H&S should be any businesses first priority (covered under the general umbrella term of safety). Not matter how loved or under loved an attraction is should have no bearing on the responsibilities of the company. They either failed to spot it, or failed to fix it - either is inexcusable.

Sorry Lee but I do disagree with you on this one...I dont want to offend you though so im rly not trying to be offensive. I do think that Chessington is under-loved, hence the fact that Merlin have barely added any new things to the park (yes, there was Kobra, but that was part of an area refurb that was in diabolical need) because they were fixing its many faults. Its also a big park and this is a singular incident...accidents do happen. Id also point out that the parents do hold some blame- they should keep an eye on their child.

[Lee]

I didn't disagree that Chessie is underloved as someone who deals with H&S legilation daily, I can assure you that it is entirely irrelevant.

I do agree that accidents happen, however prevatable accidents are not accidents but risks. That's the key thing in this case, it was entirely preventable and Merlin/Chessington gambled with a risk and a child suffered the awful consequences as result. Her parents are not to blame and that's a terrible thing to suggest as the HSE investigation lays blame entirely with the park. For me, the key quotation from the article is 'The fence had not been painted with a preservative and showed signs that it had been repeatedly fixed.' By repeatedly fixing it, the park and its acting maintenance teams were fully aware of the fault and did nothing to effectively resolve the issue. They didn't have a reporting system, and the staff failed to notice that the wooden piece had fallen out earlier in the morning.

It demonstrates several worrying factors that resulted in a young girl being severely injured.

[TheBeast]

I didn't disagree that Chessie is underloved as someone who deals with H&S legilation daily, I can assure you that it is entirely irrelevant.

Point taken- a H&S guy is gonna know more than a 15 yr old

Im not fully blaming the parents- although I do think that if the girl is climbing and leaning on things there is a small but relevant chance that she may hurt herself. However, I am definitely not disputing the fact that the largest portion of the blame should be poonted at Merlin

[Lee]

I don't remember reading about her leaning over the fencing. Theoretically though, she should have been able to lean on the fencing safely AS that was its primary function.

[TheBeast]

That is true but iwould like to point out thbat if she was on the rocks and fell then that wouldnt have been the pars fault. However, as I said the majority of the blame is the park's

[Dan]

That is true but iwould like to point out thbat if she was on the rocks and fell then that wouldnt have been the pars fault. However, as I said the majority of the blame is the park's

All of the blame lies with the park. The girl was in a queueline, leant against it and fell through a gap that hadn't been properly maintained by the park.

We all spend a fair amount of time in theme park queues, and the majority of that time is spent leant up against a fence. To suggest that she shouldn't have been leant on it is ludicrous.

[Lee]

That is true but iwould like to point out thbat if she was on the rocks and fell then that wouldnt have been the pars fault. However, as I said the majority of the blame is the park's

I'm not sure you understand the absolute nature of H&S as if you did, you'd understand how absurd that statement is. The sole blame lies with the park and the park alone.

H&S works on risk, perceived risk and the necessary assessment. For example, when the rocks were laid there will have been an assessment that covered the height and nature of any fencing to stop falls from a height. That assessment would outline associated risks and assess how to prevent them, in this case it would most likely cover breakage, maintenance most certainly the necessary treatment to maintain the life of the fencing. As described by the HSE, Chessington didn't treat the wood, which led to rot, which coupled with bad maintenance and a lack of reporting system resulted in this entirely preventable incident. She didn't fall over the fencing, play with it or climb over it - the park just didn't do its duty which is to protect staff and guests whilst at their business.

To say the parents are even remotely at fault is against the decision and assessment of a whole internal investigation launched by the park and of an external legal investigation by highly trained independent HSE investigators.

[bensaund]

With H&S you have to get the balance right. Too much and every one will moan, would we all want to wear safety glasses and neck braces on the Vampire?

Too little and accidents can and will happen.

It is very easy to point the finger of blame, but you would need the full facts and we don't know the full details of the maintenance which should or did not happen and what happened on the day. Plus the movements of the guests and what they did or what happened. If anything I wish the injured guest all the luck in the world with theirrecovery and this should kick start a cascade of additional maintenance across all parks.

With all the H&S in the world common sense has to play a part. For example if somebody loses a phone or hat on a ride and they choose to climb over the fence to retrieve it, who would be at fault? Fence not big enough/signs not clear enough/person who climbed the fence.

[TheBeast]

That is true but iwould like to point out thbat if she was on the rocks and fell then that wouldnt have been the pars fault. However, as I said the majority of the blame is the park's

I'm not sure you understand the absolute nature of H&S as if you did, you'd understand how absurd that statement is. The sole blame lies with the park and the park alone.

H&S works on risk, perceived risk and the necessary assessment. For example, when the rocks were laid there will have been an assessment that covered the height and nature of any fencing to stop falls from a height. That assessment would outline associated risks and assess how to prevent them, in this case it would most likely cover breakage, maintenance most certainly the necessary treatment to maintain the life of the fencing. As described by the HSE, Chessington didn't treat the wood, which led to rot, which coupled with bad maintenance and a lack of reporting system resulted in this entirely preventable incident. She didn't fall over the fencing, play with it or climb over it - the park just didn't do its duty which is to protect staff and guests whilst at their business.

To say the parents are even remotely at fault is against the decision and assessment of a whole internal investigation launched by the park and of an external legal investigation by highly trained independent HSE investigators.

Im just going to stop commenting as I can see im probably offending you...sorry

[Chris]

Well put it this way.. when I worked for Merlin there was no procedures for checking the safety of a queue line. They completely relied on the ride ops checking the queue line each morning and pointing out any maintenance issues. Clearly that didn't work so I am guessing they would have actual maintenance people check these kind of things now.

[mark_h]

They completely relied on the ride ops checking the queue line each morning and pointing out any maintenance issues.

The ride operators will not have been trained to assess the structural safety of fencing or other potential hazards. They are only likely to notice obvious issues.

The morning walkaround is likely to take place as quickly as possible as there will be a lot of other morning tasks needed to be done.

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It is worth pointing out that the HSE guidelines for outdoor events has, in its example checklist (p95) checking that the escape routes are clear as a daily task and checking that the escape routes are clear and safe as a weekly task.

This would suggest that the daily checks could be conducted by the ride operators but the weekly checks should be carried out in more detail by somebody with more knowledge.

[Burniel]

Anyone know if Bubbleworks is open? I remember seeing it on the lineup a couple of months ago, but it's not on the website now. Planning a trip tomorrow, and the ride selection looks pitiful without it.

Many thanks.

[Ladyofthelake]

Unfortunately Bubbleworks has been taken off the line up as it is still undergoing winter maintenance. Tomb Blaster has been added to the line up instead to take its place

[Burniel]

Thanks a lot, makes me feel a lot more excited about today

[Burniel]

Note: Sorry for double post!
QUICK REVIEW OF FHT:

Spent a little while at Chessington today. Arrived at 10am in an attempt to get on the rides early. Noticed on the front that Tomb Blaster, Scorpion Express, Carousel, HPH and AMAZU were to open, but was disappointed to see that SeaStorm was to remain closed, despite saying otherwise on the website.

I decided to head immediately to Tomb Blaster, thinking that everyone else would be going to Scorpion Express, but this plan backfired immediately, as Scorpion Express was yet to open, and so I got caught in a crowd of people moving on to Tomb Blaster. Fortunately, reasonably good operations meant that my wait for Tomb Blaster was minimal.

Somehow managed to almost walk on Scorpion Express straight after, operations are definitely better than last year!

Decided to have some fun in AMAZU with friends after this. I encountered a very rude father in there who seemed to think his 3-year-old son was the only child that mattered. He and his son were crossing a rope bridge and I got on behind. The father then very rudely told me to back off and let his son cross on his own, as I'd put the boy in danger. I pointed out that I was calmly walking and that I was causing no trouble, to which he replied "just STAY there". The incident left me rather upset as I'm very conscious of age discrimination, and I left the attraction afterwards.

I saw the queue for the Carousel stretched around the entire circumference of the attraction, so gave that a miss. HPH was as usual.

I'd finished the ride lineup by 12, and I didn't fancy a walk around the zoo, as I'm a regular and it gets a bit boring eventually.

Noticed on the way out that parking was up to £3, but also noticed that the barriers were up, so we didn't have to pay!

[TheBeast]

Good stuff im hearing then!

If I remember correctly, operations for TB are usually really slow when it comes to loading, and the queues are usually massive because of it. Nothing you can do about the parent- some people are just like that! Parking is £3...could be worse I guess *glares at Alton Towers*

Are things looking up? Or have I just had a few unlucky days there?