The Ipswich Magistrates’ Court (the Court) fined a chair-o-plane (swing ride or chair swing ride (sometimes called a swing carousel) operator $80,000 after a casual employee was fatally crushed by a component of a chair-o-plane ride, while at a government school’s Christmas Carol event in 2014.  The operator is referred to as the defendant in this article.

This tragedy serves as a reminder to what schools need to check and be aware of when deciding whether or not to include amusement rides at school events.

The facts

A sole trader operating an amusement park ride business in Queensland was fined a record $80,000 after a casual worker was fatally crushed by a part of a chair-o-plane ride at a government school’s Christmas Carols event in 2014. The incident was reported in local and national media.

On 22 March 2017, the defendant pleaded guilty to violating the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) (the Act) after an employee, who worked on the ride, died when trying to fix a component.  It was found that the employee had not had training and the operator of the ride had taken little action to remove or minimise the risks associated with fixing the ride.

With no training in the workings or mechanics of the chair-o-plane, the employee was told to climb the ride and remove bolts from the centre pole.  As the employee removed the bolts from the centre pole, the pole dropped and the employee was trapped by the pole and the chains.  Tragically, he died at the scene from traumatic asphyxiation.

The Court found that the defendant did not ensure the health and safety of its employees by failing to put appropriate controls in place during set-up and dismantling of the ride, and not providing adequate training or information to the  employee to help identify possible danger and risk.

When sentencing the defendant, Magistrate Shepard noted the defendant’s guilty plea was made six days before trial and that they cooperated with the investigation.

The defendant could have faced the maximum penalty of $300,000.  However, Magistrate Shepard considered the defendant’s lack of previous WHS convictions and that fact that the defendant was a young man with a young family.  No conviction was recorded and a $80,000 fine was issued.  This fine is the largest fine that has been issued to an individual in Queensland under the Act.

Lesson for schools

This unfortunate tragedy serves as a reminder for schools to make sure they conduct the necessary and appropriate checks when deciding to have a school event such as a fete or carnival where contractors may be engaged to provide amusements, rides, food stalls or trucks.

At these events, there will be overlapping duties between different employers who will all be a ''person conducting a business or undertaking’ (PCBU)'' under the harmonised Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) legislation.

Schools should not rely on other PCBUs (the operator of the ride in this case) to comply with their duties under WHS legislation, to their exclusion of their own duties to provide a safe work place environment.  Both the school and the contractor have duties to ensure the health and safety of workers, in proportion to their capacity to have influence over the particular activities.  While the operator of the ride has the primary control and management of the ride, the school who hired or leased it, also has duties to eliminate or minimise the risks associated with the ride, so far as is reasonably practicable.

Set out below is a high level summary of steps schools can take before work is undertaken:

• Step one: review the nature of the activity to be undertaken and determined the level of influence and control the school may have over the work being undertaken. If the school does not have any influence over the location or time of the work, the school is unlikely to have a primary duty of care and no further Steps are necessary.
• Step two: where the school does have a primary duty of care, the school should obtain the following information from the other PCBU:
  • copies of licences;
  • copies of safe work method statements, or undertaking that they have developed safe work methods and will be following them;
  • details of the PCBU's consultation procedures;
  • an undertaking that the PCBU’s workers have the necessary training or accreditation to safely conduct the work for the school;
  • copies of insurances; and
  • details of first aid facilities.

Schools who hire amusement rides should consult with the operator of the ride around factor such as ground stability and overhead hazards.

While the school where the chair-o-plane ride was used has apparently not been involved in any legal proceedings, the facts of the tragic case could apply to any school and if similar events were to occur in the future, a school's duties may be scrutinised.

Safe Work Australia Guidance on amusement rides

Safe Work Australia provide some useful general guidance material for PCBUs on how to manage the risks associated with ''amusement devices'' at a workplace.

If schools decide to have amusement rides on their premises, they should review the Safe Work Australia guidance in advance of the event to ensure they understand their obligations under WHS legislation and steps they should take to identify safety hazards and ensure that those hazards are controlled.

Does your school know what to consider when hosting a school fete or carnival?