Theme parks pose similar risks to industries like mining or chemical processing and should be regulated as high-hazard workplaces due to their potential for multiple-fatality events, according to recently published research.
“Theme parks are high-hazard workplaces with a real and demonstrable risk of multiple-fatality events and they should be regulated accordingly, including requirements for an OHSMS addressing principal hazards and periodic independent and rigorous auditing together with more stringent oversight by regulators and a stronger system of duly trained and empowered HSRs,” said the research paper, Death at Dreamworld: Ten pathways to disaster and failure to learn.
Published in The Economic and Labour Relations Review, the study was conducted by UNSW Sydney researchers Sarah Gregson and Michael Quinlan, who examined the 2016 Dreamworld accident that killed four visitors and found systemic safety failures common to disasters in other high-risk industries.
The researchers applied an established framework of ten common pathways to workplace disasters to analyse the Dreamworld incident. They found at least nine of these pathways were present, indicating widespread safety deficiencies.
“The Dreamworld disaster was by no means the first fatal incident at a theme park or on an amusement ride in Australia,” the researchers noted. “Around the world, there has been a string of multiple-fatality theme park incidents dating back decades in Europe, North America, and elsewhere, a number sparking debates over the adequacy of regulation.”
The coroner’s investigation uncovered serious engineering, design and maintenance problems with the Thunder River Rapids ride. According to the study, a senior OIR mechanical inspector inspected the site after the incident and found the ride ‘to be in generally poor condition, with significant corrosion evident throughout the steel components of the ride and concrete degradation in two of the tunnels’.
The research also revealed significant flaws in Dreamworld’s safety management systems, risk assessment processes, and regulatory oversight. The coroner identified “a series of serious shortcomings in risk assessment at Dreamworld, including hazard identification and record keeping, which are basic steps in risk assessment.”
The research uncovered a pattern of disregarding safety concerns raised by workers, supervisors, and unions. This failure to heed warnings is a common precursor to workplace disasters.
“Prior concerns had been raised by workers, consultants, supervisors, and the union prior to the incident to both Dreamworld management and the inspectorate but were either ignored or did not yield an adequate response,” the researchers found.
The study advocates for designating theme parks as high-hazard workplaces subject to more stringent safety regulations. Key recommendations include implementing mandatory safety management systems, regular independent audits, and empowering health and safety representatives.
The research paper emphasised the need for a safety case regime, similar to those used in other high-hazard industries. “Safety case regimes originated as a regulatory response to disasters in high-hazard workplaces often entailing serious risks to the surrounding community. It essentially requires a licence to operate whereby the organisation must demonstrate it has a comprehensive safety program in place addressing all significant hazards, which the regulator then needs to accept,” the study explained.