Ride inspections ensure fair attendees’ safety

There were no reported accidents on rides at the fair last year.

Staff photo by Greg Lynch Jay Clements, owner of Triple Treat Shows, inspects a new ride the Butler County Fair, Monday.

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By Lauren Pack, Staff Writer Updated 2:29 AM Thursday, July 28, 2011

HAMILTON — Children and many adults look forward each year to hopping aboard rides at the Butler County Fair.

Thrills may be most important to riders, but for organizers, amusements owners and state inspectors, safety is foremost.

Butler County has “an excellent record,” in ride safety, said Dan Martin, president of the fair.

There were no reported accidents on rides at the fair last year and only five were reported in the state, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture Division of Amusement Ride Safety.

An accident is defined as an incident that results in someone being admitted to a hospital, said Erica Pitchford, spokeswoman for the department of agriculture.

Martin said medical workers are on hand to handle minor incidents, which he said are few.

All rides are required to be inspected for manufacture and safety standards annually by state inspectors. Each ride that passes inspection is issued a license for the year. Pitchford said that licence should be visible on the ride or trailer of the ride.

If problems, such as poor assembly, are not fixed once spotted by an inspector, the operator can face fines, Pitchford said.

Jim Woodring watched Tuesday afternoon as his daughter, Kiley, road the Spring Ride with a friend. Squeals abounded as the girl bounced up and down the pink tower.

“She loves it. She rides it over and over,” Woodring said. He said he does have a concern about ride safety, but knows all rides are inspected before kids climb aboard.

Jay and Vicki Clements own Triple Treat Shows, which provides amusements to both the Butler and Warren and Butler county fairs.

The couple with more years of 80 years of combined experience in the carnival industry know safety is key in assuring they stay in business.

“It is an everyday thing,” Jay Clements said. “I have 40 employees here. We are inspecting ourselves before there rides open.”

Common problem areas are broken seat belts and electrical malfunctions, he said.

Jay Clements said he keeps a maintenance log on each ride and in the winter months those logs are audited by the state.

Before the first child got on a ride at the Butler County Fair, the rides were checked by a state inspector, who return for another check during the fair, Martin said.

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