'Explorer' fairground ride cleared for use

22 October 2008

The Explorer amusement device that malfunctioned on Friday at the Gisborne A&P Show has been thoroughly checked by an engineer and cleared by the Department of Labour for use on that basis.

The malfunctioning was caused by a damaged connection in the electrical circuit board controlling the machine. This fault caused the machine to skip part of its normal operating cycle and accelerate rapidly, resulting in injuries to children riding on it. This fault had not shown up during the test run on Friday morning before the machine began carrying passengers.

The fault has now been fixed, and the machine is back in operation. As an additional safety measure, the operator has also changed the height restriction from "over 1.2 meters unless accompanied by an adult" to "over 1.2 metres".

The Department of Labour is responsible for registering amusement devices, and as part of the registration process these devices are required to be regularly inspected by a registered engineer.

Editor’s Note

Please note that health and safety services, formerly referred to as Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) should now be referred to as the Department of Labour.