Worker dies in Livonia Jeepers roller coaster accident

Oh man, That mall was the hangout place for Joe and I when we were in junior high school. The jeepers was not there then.

Such a downfall for the mall itself. It is already in disrepair and I am sure this will not be good for the mall at all.

My sympathies to the workers family.

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Do the Moo Shoo!
*** This post was edited by James K 3/3/2003 9:08:28 AM ***

The primary causes of deaths to amusement workers seem to be the same as in industry in general, falls and failure to follow lock out tag out procedures. They are basic and OSHA mandated. People have to realize the importance of these basics.

My sympathies go out to the family and friends

Right, Jim; that's three major coaster incidents I can think of off the top of my head that were a direct result of a failure to lock out the ride. Of those three, two were fatal to workers, one was only fatal to one of the ride's trains...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I just don't understand the concept of not locking out a ride. If I'm so much as running up a lift hill to tighten a speaker or adjust a video camera, I lock the ride out.

I could only imagine what my boss would do if he ever caught me NOT locking out a ride.

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82
Technical Services - 2002-2003
Frightzone Screamster - 2002-2003

It always seems to be the maintainence workers who are breaking these simple rules, and, consequently, are the ones being injured. You'd think being full time staff, that you would understand the reasons behind such rules, and would choose to follow them.

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Jes
Jes's Roller Coasters DJ Jes
Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure Ride-Ops Crew 2002-2003(Have Fun Trying To Find Me!)*** This post was edited by Zero-G 3/3/2003 11:37:49 AM ***

My condolences to the worker's family and co-workers. This is tragic, but it was completely preventable.

Perhaps Rep. Malarkey will notice that not following standard practice on coaster maintenance is injuring/killing more people than his supposed brain injury mumbo-jumbo. That would be a cause I would support him on.

Jim

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My K'Nex Coasters
Coming to Wyandot Lake in 2003: Hi-Striker's Revenge

Here in Michigan, they don't seem to care about ride safety as much (except for at MA, since it is owned by Cedar Fair, and if we were caught not paying attention, we were disciplined, which could include being fired, and rides were locked out if they were worked on). I would always go to a mall, with their carousels, and see the operator with the presence pedal held down and the operator not paying attention at all. So, I wouldn't be surprised if that assistant manager didn't have the smarts to lock out a ride, and I'm sure Jeepers will pay through MI-OSHA's wrath.

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Cedar Fair Junkie... I mean... ex-seasonal employee for their ride operations departments at CP and MA

jimmybob: The Federal government already has plenty of regulations governing parks locking out rides. They are fully covered under OSHA, The problem is parks ( and other employers ) who don't follow the regulations.

Red Garter Rob: Your supervisor would either give you some time off to think about it, or he would just fire you. The best solution I've ever heard though is to make the offenders go around to each group where they work and explain exactly what they did and how it could have killed them. The embarassment is enough to make sure that they never, ever repeat the rule violation.

It seems odd to me that whoever operated the ride didn't even say that the "ride will be in motion." over a loudspeaker or anything. (or did they?) The whole point of that is to get people's attention if they happen to be working on the ride.

But then again, this is a small coaster and a very small park, so perhaps they don't have strict procedure. Obviously, it is very important to have no matter what the size of the park is...

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Xcelerator- Put the Pedal to the Metal!

I think it was all just miscomunication. I'm sure the ride operator wouldn't have let the ride go if he/she knew if there was someone repairing the ride. But that's horrible, we need to be more careful out there everyone.

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They call me Sir Lancelot, the "Prince of Camelot".

Like I said.. it's a situation I refuse to let me self get into.. I lock out anythign and everything I work on. Even for simple things..

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82
Technical Services - 2002-2003
Frightzone Screamster - 2002-2003

Actualy, the coaster is called "python pit" and the lift is basicly next to the controle panal. So as to how the operater of the ride did not see the work being done on the lift is beyond me. I also saw a story on channel 2 news with some ammature video of a birthday party a few weeks ago showing a worker on the same coaster in the same establisment actualy putting his foot on the coaster track while running the ride.....he is lucky that the only thing he lost was his shoe. What it comes down to is "common sense".

crazy horse

2001..mean streak

2002..disaster transport.

Isn't it a little weird that an "Assistant Store Manager" was repairing the ride?

The point is, if you are in an area where you are exposed to the mechanism, you should not depend on the operator to not start the ride. You lock out the ride so that it cannot be started until the lock is removed with the key that you keep in your pocket. It's not only good sense, it's Federal law.

When will the senseless suicides end...