ALTON TOWERS’ OWNERS RECEIVE LARGE FINE

The Company which owns Alton Towers, Merlin Attractions Operations Limited of Poole in Dorset, have been fined £5 million with costs of £69,955.40 following a roller coaster collision.  This collision left 16 people injured.  Two young women suffered leg amputations when their carriage on the Smiler ride collided with a stationary carriage on the same track on 2 June 2015.

Incident engineers at the theme park over-rode the Smiler ride’s control system.  They did not have the knowledge and understanding to ensure that it was safe to do so.

The Health and Safety Executive (“HSE”) investigated this incident.  There was no fault with the track, the cars, or the control system that kept the cars on the ride apart whilst the ride was in motion.

Investigators did, however, find that the cause of the accident was a lack of suitable arrangements when making decisions related to safety.  The safety system, the HSE concluded, from training to fixing faults was not robust enough to stop staff making errors.

The theme park owners pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches.  The HSE commented that “people visiting theme parks should be able to enjoy themselves safely.  On 2 June last year Merlin Attractions Operations Limited failed to protect their customers; they badly let them down.  This avoidable incident happened because Merlin failed to put in place systems to allow engineers to work safely on the ride whilst it was running.  This made it all too easy for a whole series of unchecked mistakes; not just one push of a button, to result in tragic consequences.  Since the incident, Alton Towers have made improvements to the ride and their safety protocols, and the lessons learned have been shared industry wide”.