Carnival and Amusement Ride Safety Advisory Board
March 26, 2009
Board Members Present: Cynthia Wilk, Chair; Lucy Murphy; Geoffrey Rogers; William Zumsteg; Albert Belmont; Nancy Sheridan; William Dauphinee
DCA Staff Present: Michael Baier, Acting Chief, Bureau of Code Services; Michael Triplett, Carnival and Amusement Ride Safety Unit; Andreas Lichter, Carnival and Amusement Ride Safety Unit; Donald VanHouten, Carnival and Amusement Ride Safety Unit; Suzanne Borek, Code Assistance and Development Unit
Members of the Public: Anthony Casale, Fun Factory Amusements/ROAR; Kim Samarelli, NJAA; Lary Zucker, NJAA; Ed McGlynn, NJAA
The meeting was called to order at 10:05 am.
Staff introduced two people who are prospective members of the Board. Christian Leitner and Debbie Henderson have been approved by the Governor’s Office and are awaiting action by the Senate. Staff reported that they expect them, along with a third person, Adam Wallach, to be appointed before the next board meeting. Mr. Leitner is a public member, while Ms. Henderson is a ride operator who specializes in inflatable rides.
Approval of the Minutes of October 16, 2008.
A motion was made by Geoff Rogers seconded by Lucy Murphy to accept the minutes of the 10/26/08 meeting. The minutes were approved without change.
Old Business
1. Meeting Schedule – The Board discussed the date for the next meeting. There were concerns about having the meeting the week before Memorial Day. A motion was made by William Zumsteg seconded by Geoff Rogers and the Board voted to change the date of the next meeting to May 28 th.
2. Electrical Disconnects and Emergency Stops – Staff reported that the committee had met recently. At the meeting the Department presented its proposal. The purpose of the proposal is to provide clear requirements on the type of shutoff needed as well as the number and location of disconnects needed. The committee is reviewing the proposal and is scheduled to meet again shortly. There is no action to be taken at this time on this item.
3. RCMT Rule – A Board member asked if the grandfathering provision that was discussed by the Board would appear in the Recognized Certified Maintenance Technician rule adoption. The concern is that there is a significant number of maintenance people who are employed now and are competent that might not be able to pass the test. Staff responded that the grandfathering provision for training in lieu of the test would be part of the adopted rule. The Department also acknowledged the need for training and noted that training would be provided after the rule is adopted, during the two year phase in time for the rule. A Board member also suggested that the name of the person in the rule, recognized certified maintenance technician, did not accurately reflect the responsibilities of the person and suggested a simpler more descriptive title be used.
D. New Business
1. Virginia Graeme Baker – The Department reported that there are new Federal rules regarding entrapment in public pools. The rules are enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The rules are intended to eliminate drain entrapment hazards in public pools and went into effect on December 18, 2008. Therefore, any pool that does not comply with the Federal requirements is not supposed to open. The Department has been discussing the issue with the State Department of Health. Both Departments recognize that they have no enforcement responsibility under the Federal Law. However, both Departments also recognize that there is a need to provide guidance to the inspectors and the industry on the Federal Law. The Departments are working on a joint guidance document for building inspectors, ride inspectors and health inspectors. The guidance will make it clear that the Departments will not be shutting pools down that do not comply with the Virginia Graeme Baker Act provided that the pool or spa meets the current State requirements. In cases where the pool does not comply with the Virginia Graeme Baker Act the Departments will be advising inspectors to notify the CPSC under certain circumstances.
2. Updated Membership List – An updated membership list with the names of the pending members discussed above was distributed. Members were asked to submit any changes that they had to their contact information to the staff.
3. Day Camps – Staff reported that they were interested in opening discussions on the applicability of the rules to day camps. The problem that the Department is interested in discussing stems from the definition of gravity propelled rides in the Carnival-Amusement Ride Safety Act. As defined in the Act, gravity propelled rides are only regulated by the code when they are sited with mechanical amusement rides. However, placing a mechanical ride in a day camp then extends the regulations to all “gravity propelled” rides at the day camp. That means that all of the soft play structures and perhaps much of the playground equipment would be subject to the Carnival-Amusement Ride Safety regulations. The Department is interested in providing reasonable guidance for what is and is not subject to the Carnival-Amusement Ride Regulations in a day camp. A Committee consisting of: Al Belmont. Debbie Henderson, William Zumsteg, Lary Zucker and Claudine Leone, was established to begin discussion. Staff will distribute material and schedule a meeting before the next Board meeting to begin work.
4. Revisions to application forms – Staff presented changes to the application forms that were made in response to discussions that the Department had with the New Jersey Amusement Association. The changes to the form included an additional line for other interested parties to be copied on correspondence. This will allow ride owners to be kept aware of the status of the project as the ride manufacturer and the Department move through the approval process. The other change was to include a list of those items most frequently missed. Lucy Murphy commented that the standard that the Department uses to verify flame resistance (ASTM E84) may not be the most appropriate standard and suggested that the Department look at ASTM E162 as a better option. The Board also asked if the newer form was on the web-site. The Department will look at the proposed standard, and if warranted include the standard as part of an upcoming rule change. The Department will also ensure that the new form is on the Department’s website.
E. Information
1. Ride Statistics – There were two questions on the ride statistics that were distributed. One board member questioned what the nature of the product failures were. Staff responded that they did not have specifics but that the recollection was that the product failures were fairly simple things that did not have a big impact on safety. Another Board member questioned why the numbers presented as part of the ride breakdown by type did not match numbers listed above specifically with respect to the number of permits. It was explained that while numbers at the top of the sheet were for a limited part of the year the numbers at the bottom were end of year numbers. The Department acknowledged that this should be clarified on the form and will also try to present the data in the same manner from year to year so a meaningful comparison can be made.
2. Rule Making Activity – Staff gave the status of the various proposals and adoptions that have been passed by the Board. A member of the public asked about the proposal to increase fees. The Department indicated that the fee proposal had been adopted in March and that people who applied after March would be charged the higher fee. A Board member questioned the fairness of that and suggested that the fee increase should be applied during the next cycle of permitting.
3. Application & time frame for approvals this year – Mr. Triplett reported that the Department has 30 days from the time of a complete application to review an application and approve or deny it. He reported that currently the review is being completed in less time, perhaps two to three weeks. He also reported that the fee increase actually prompted a significant number of people to apply early and that has helped distribute the workload.
Public Comment
1. A member of the public reiterated the concern about the grandfathering of people under the RCMT. A member of the public noted that Pennsylvania had been working on training material for inspectors and that it might be worthwhile for New Jersey to look at the Pennsylvania material.
G. Adjornment
Geoff Rogers made a motion to adjourn, Al Belmont seconded. All were in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 pm
Carnival and Amusement Ride Safety Advisory Board
June 4, 2009
Board Members Present: Cynthia Wilk, Chair; Lucy Murphy; William Gehlhaus; William Zumsteg; Albert Belmont; Nancy Sheridan; Debbie Henderson; Christopher Leitner
DCA Staff Present: Michael Baier, Acting Chief, Bureau of Code Services; Michael Triplett, Carnival and Amusement Ride Safety Unit; Andreas Lichter, Carnival and Amusement Ride Safety Unit; Donald VanHouten, Carnival and Amusement Ride Safety Unit; Carrie Battista, Bureau of Code Services
Members of the Public: Anthony Casale, Funfactory Amusements/ROAR; Kim Samarelli, NJAA; Lary Zucker, NJAA; Ed McGlynn, NJAA
The meeting was called to order at 10:05 am.
Approval of the Minutes of March 26, 2009
A motion was made by Lucy Murphy seconded by William Gehlhaus to accept the minutes of the 3/26/09 meeting. The following changes to the minutes were suggested. Under new business item 1 in the minutes it was suggested that the word “drain” should be included before the word entrapment on line 2. Under new business item 3, in line three, “gravity propelled ride” was suggested to be changed to “gravity propelled rides.” The minutes were approved unanimously with the changes listed above. A motion was made by Lucy Murphy seconded by Nancy Sheridan to approve the minutes with the changes. All were in favor.
Old Business
1. Electrical Disconnects and Emergency Stops – There is a standing committee that was formed by the Board to discuss these issues. Staff reported that the group had met and had agreed in principle to the disconnect requirements for amusement rides. Essentially the agreement was that NFPA 79 would apply to disconnects at fixed parks. The requirements of NFPA 70 Article 525 would apply to portable rides. Staff reported that the committee was scheduled to meet the afternoon of June 4 th to discuss emergency stops and emergency switching off means. There is no action to be taken by the Board at this time.
2. Virginia Graeme Baker Act – Staff distributed a guidance document that was put on the DCA website. The guidance document was published jointly with the Department of Health. The Document makes it clear that responsibility for enforcement of the Virginia Graeme Baker Act lies with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Therefore both agencies have agreed not to shut down pools for non-compliance with the Act but will report cases where people are not making a good faith effort to comply with the Act to the consumer product safety commission.
3. Rides at Youth Day Camps - Staff reported that a meeting had taken place with the committee that was formed by the Board. The committee is concerned with the inspection of gravity propelled rides at youth day camps. The current statutory definition of a ride includes gravity or passenger propelled rides when they are located with other traditional mechanical rides. Gravity and passenger propelled rides are not well defined in the rules and can be read to include such things as soft play equipment, smaller pool slides and playground equipment. The committee was interested in finding out if current Department of Health oversight of Youth Day camps includes and inspection of Gravity/Passenger propelled rides and in addition, if a dividing line between regulated gravity rides and non-regulated rides can be established.
D. Information:
1. The ride statistics were presented. There were no questions
2. A board member asked how the Department felt that the NAARSO training that was offered by NJAA went. Staff responded that the Department did not attend the NAARSO training but elected to do the AIMS online training to meet its CEU requirement to maintain the inspectors NAARSO Certification. Someone questioned whether this could be done by others. The Department responded that as long as the training is recognized by NAARSO, which AIMS currently is, it is acceptable.
E. Public Comment:
1. A member of the public asked if a permit was required for rental rides intended for use at single family dwellings. Staff responded yes but that an itinerary is not required to be submitted for “backyard” events. A follow up question on training was asked. Staff responded that someone must be trained as an operator (it could be the homeowner) at a backyard event.
2. A member of the public asked if people performing maintenance on amusement rides have to be an RCMT now. Staff responded that they have time to comply, and that the requirement does not become effective until 2 years after the date it was published.
3. Lary Zucker announced that the NJAA had celebrated its 50 th anniversary.
4. A member of the public asked if the mechanical deficiency form could be renamed since it is has a negative connotation as evidence of a risk to the public in litigation. It was suggested that something similar to a “fix it memo” like the Federal Aviation Administration uses should be used.
5. Lary Zucker followed up on the previous discussion on the RCMT rule noting that the Department will ask people to comply with the rule now but will do it in the context of educating people on the rule. He reported that the NJAA would be available to assist the Department in educating the public on the rule.
6. A member of the public asked if there were any adverse affects from the Department’s furlough on May 26 th. The Director reported that there was an incident over the Memorial Day weekend involving an injury to a rider but that there were no incidents on the Tuesday after Memorial Day which was a furlough day for the Department. The Director responded that the ride unit had not been designated as essential and therefore there was no-one allowed to work that day. Therefore, the normal hotline coverage was not available and the only calls that would be taken would be cases of a fatality or very serious injury. If there was a mechanical malfunction there would be no one available to handle that type of call. A Board member asked how many calls were made to the hotline. The Department responded that those numbers are not part of the statistical report that the Department normally runs. A Board member asked if the calls to the hotline are normally legitimate hotline issues, and whether all of the patron accidents on the statistical report would have been reported through the hotline. Staff reported that at one time many of the calls received through the hotline were not legitimate calls but that has changed and now nearly all of the calls are to report incidents that require a call. Staff also responded that all of the injuries that are reported on the statistical report were reported through the hotline.
F. Adjournment
Motion was made by William Zumsteg seconded by Al Belmont to adjourn. All were in favor the meeting adjourned at 11:17 am.
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