Safety, a top priority at theme parks

CHENNAI : After the recent incident of a 25-year-old woman suffering multiple fractures when she was thrown off a ride at an amusement park in the city, safety has taken top priority at these establishments.P Suresh, deputy general manager of marketing, Queensland, says, “Most of our rides are sourced from other countries. Therefore the standard of maintenance required is international.” He says that the park has a safety manager who does daily checks on all the equipment.VGP’s Aqua Kingdom has trained lifeguards in bright yellow T-shirts for easy identification. One of them says, “We handle an average of 500 people a day. At its deepest point the water is only five feet deep and even portions of this have been roped off. We are on the watch all the time.”The same is true at Kishkinta, says Thothadri, co-director and safety consultant for the park since its inception. “Some of our staff come in at 6 am to do a trial run of all the rides. All the parameters on our safety checklist have to be met for the ride to be operated that day,” he says. For the water games, Kishkinta has 24 lifeguards on duty at all times.Thothadri adds, “It is the lapse in care which causes accidents to occur. People come here to have a good time and take back good memories. So it is our job to be vigilant at all times.”