Lessening the risks at high-risk venues

Rough Notes, Jul 2001 by Loomis, Judi E

As speed and risk-taking become more a part of the entertainment culture, agents have additional resources to tap

In the sports-related entertainment world, nothing beats the zing of traveling at the speed of light through the winding loops of a roller coaster, or racing the oval at phenomenal speeds while dodging fellow drivers on slippery curves. Faster, higher, more thrilling are the requests of thrill-seeking enthusiasts from across the country. Speed and risk-taking have become a part of the entertainment culture.

And while significant numbers of the thrill-seeking enthusiasts suffer severe or sometimes fatal injuries while pursuing their motor sports, boating, sky diving, skiing, hockey or baseball, family entertainmentamusement parks and water parksare risky venues as well.

Family entertainment venues are susceptible to perhaps a greater array of injuries than the more high-profile venues because they are attended by people of all ages and stages of physical ability. Only a seasoned driver would dare to get behind the wheel of an Indy car, and professional ball players can generally protect themselves from obvious injury. But when it comes to amusement parks, even a five-year old can hop aboard a thrill ride.

There's nothing amusing about accidents and injuries that occur in the amusement park industry. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), fixed-site amusement ride accidents have almost doubled since 1994. Yet the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions says that, "Amusement rides are safer than garden hoses." The truth lies someplace in between.

The statistics presented by the CPSC indicate a continually growing concern for participant injury. The CPSC estimated that 10,380 people were treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 1999 for amusement ride-related injuries. According to the same report 2,580 involved portable (traveling carnival) rides; 5,980 involved fixed (amusement park) rides; 1,820 involved rides of unknown mobility. Ride-related injuries increased 3% between 1993 and 1999, and injuries associated with fixed rides showed a 59% increase during that time, while injuries associated with portable rides showed a 15% increase.

Some would dispute these accident figures, arguing that good data are hard to find, at least in the amusement ride world, because a large percentage of parks and carnivals don't report injuries that occur on their rides, (according to National Association of Amusement Ride Safety officials), and many states which do require accident reporting don't release details such as the cause of injury. However, according to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), "Mechanical failure accounts for 5%-10% of all amusement park injuries. The remaining 90%-95% are attributed to some combination of operator error, rider error, and design limitation."

The remedy for preventing accidents attributed to operator error and mechanical error is in preventive maintenance, and that may become a more exacting science with the advent of new technology. A relatively new company has emerged specializing in technology that will detect equipment failures and encourage regular maintenance. SunStruck Technologies, LLC, located in Mason, Ohio, has developed a computerized preventive maintenance system which utilizes real-time technology to record what preventive maintenance actions are performed, the time the work is performed and the length of time the maintenance took. This hand-held computer device, dubbed the Laurus IPM (integrated preventive maintenance), performs tasks that are tied into a server that stores all of the information regarding the asset being inspected.

"This technology allows the insured parties to do a lot of things that they were not able to do in the past," says John Fussner, president and CEO of SunStruck Technologies. "While Laurus won't pick up malfunctions in a ride, it has the capability of monitoring pneumatic and hydraulic pressures, and safety systems within the ride. Once integrated as a maintenance tool, the Laurus ensures that inspections have been completed on any particular asset in the park. When a maintenance person swipes the bar code or the computer micro chip, the computer knows where that person is because that particular part or area of the asset has been identified to the computer by that bar code number. Then the computer knows what maintenance is to be performed at that point for that day and by whom."

Fussner, whose credentials include 15 years in risk management, safety and loss prevention consulting, realized the need for Laurus when he was called as an expert witness in a liability suit. "During the proceedings, a plaintiff's attorney held up a paper check sheet and asked me if it was possible that the maintenance technician checked off all of the boxes in the break room and never actually looked at the ride," Fussner says. "I had to say, 'Sure, that's possible.'"

Besides marketing Laurus to the more than 500 amusement parks throughout the United States, Fussner is drawing considerable interest from the aircraft industry as well as organizers of other high-risk sports events such as marathons and bicycle races. "If there is one thing that I learned from my former boss at American Specialty, Pete Eshelman, it's that if you want to be successful in business you have to find a niche market," Fussner says. "Once you find a niche market, you have to provide that niche with a quality product and outstanding service. The niche that we're targeting is the high-risk, highliability arena. We're going to continue to do that, and we're going to continue to develop products that reduce that exposure."