What will change with the upcoming amendments to EN-13814? What will manufacturers and operators be required to do? More safety for riders implies a higher level of professionalism and responsibility for the parties involved.

 

 

THE NEW EN-13814 STANDARD FOR AMUSEMENT RIDE

by Enrico Fabbri

(Download the PDF version by clicking on the links above)

 

 

For some time now, several technical committees have been working both in Europe and internationally on making important changes to European standard EN-13814, which will soon (with a few differences) also become the reference ISO standard worldwide.

The updates concern certain aspects relating to the design of structures, with special attention on fatigue resistance; these changes have become necessary above all following the evolution of other existing standards linked to EN-13814. In general, however, more care will now be paid to the calculations and construction of rides, so as to ensure more precise structural resistance. Manufacturers as a consequence will need to invest in people and knowledge to keep up with the changes, in essence requiring an internal technical department.

Other changes concern inspection and maintenance of attractions. These need to be inspected before starting operation by a team of engineers with different specialisations, and not just by one engineer as is currently the case in Italy and other European countries. This team must also carry out annual inspections, more or less in the same way as happens now. As concerns maintenance, detailed guidelines will be provided on the operations that are to be carried out and which components need to be more closely checked, aiming to fill some gaps that are often present in the user and maintenance manuals provided by some manufacturers or on attractions that have already been on the market for some time.

Some may object to these points, however I disagree. Attractions carry people, therefore the standards and precautions to be adopted must reflect what is required in other similar sectors. I should also stress that in the case of injuries to riders, courts and lawyers already protect the affected parties beyond the current requirements, and consequently there is no reason not to update the standards a dodgem car. The cars did not have safety belts, however these had been a requirement since the first version of EN-13814 came into force in 2007. In these cases, it was common sense for the operator to be required to upgrade the passenger safety systems, regardless of whether the cars had been purchased with or without safety belts.

I know many operators and I know that for many of them the safety of their rides is paramount; indeed, I feel that Italian operators are amongst the best in the world regarding these aspects. At the same time, however, I believe that many aspects relating to existing standards and those that will soon come into force need to be made known more effectively, above all among operators, so that they can plan their safety and prevention actions in the best possible.

 

 

 

 

Written by Mr. Enrico Fabbri enrico@fabbrirides.com
Article originally published in Games Industry (Italy) magazine
Original date: April 2015

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