Six Flags safety check policy

Most lame thing I've ever seen done by the ride ops in an amusementpark

Thats really pathetic.

Look at the bright side! Better capacity, lol.

[Oscar]

wow, that's just fail.

wow, is that chain-wide policy, or just SFGAdv? If SFMM does the same, I can just see a Perilous Plunge type incident in the near future for Superman:EFK.

^Tatsu too.

So your mad that they are making sure the rides are clear? Granted the head shaking seems dumb, its not as stupid as you might think.....

the vid does not show a proper restraint check, all they were doing was a brief scan of the trains and platform, instead of walking down the train and physically checking to make sure each restraint is properly locked into place, what was my beef with this. Do they still do the restraint check the way they used to?

Physical restraint checking still takes place. This happens before dispatching to check the ride area is clear and to give an idea of where any other trains are on the course (usually stacked behind the station...).

You'll find the exact same happening at Cedar Fair establishments - personally I've seen it done at Cedar Point.

Ahh thanks for explaining that. I thought all they did was do a quick visual check to make sure the restraints are properly locked.

This is a great idea. If you've ever worked in a park on a coaster platform you'll know how repetitive it can be.

You're being forced to ensure that safety regs are being implemented properly while capacity is unaffected. This ensures that a sweeping check of the station area is done in a very visual way that ensures that it isn't forgotten.

Originally posted by dragon2000

Physical restraint checking still takes place. This happens before dispatching to check the ride area is clear and to give an idea of where any other trains are on the course (usually stacked behind the station...).

You'll find the exact same happening at Cedar Fair establishments - personally I've seen it done at Cedar Point.

By you seeing this at Cedar Point I hope you mean us just looking at the ride area and the riders/restraints. We do have a "Visual Check" after we do a physical "Check" of the restraints. Also we have something called an "Eye Cycle" this is basically what the "Visual Scan" is, but we don't announce it.

I think they started making them do that last year [if not the year before]

This has been going on for a while. It's just fun to mock them.
But hey, it must just be standard protocol now.

I'm a ride op at Magic Mountain and we don't do a visual check in the same way they do. After we secure the train, we do a visual scan while counting to five in our heads. After that we can give the all clear and dispatch the train.

[Mikey]

This is a new safety policy being implemented locally and not at the corporate level. You have to remember that while Six Flags is a large company, each park still has some control over their own operations. If you actually believe this sort of policy will provide another level of safety for the guest then I think you should consult with an electrician to make get your head and your ass are wired together properly.

Anytime you have a job which is repetitive in nature you will get a certain level of automation out of the employees. Over time they start performing their normal routines sub consciously. They are operating the ride, but they are thinking about that new video game, or the new hot chick down in ESO. They arent paying attention, they are just running the ride like a robot.

This is incredibly dangerous because even tho they are saying all clear, visual scan, looking around in a circle, etc, visually they are not processing anything. They are not proactively monitoring any ride functions. They are only performing the operating motions because they have to and because it is routine. Look at the lines on the floor, you can see thee tread marks for how many times one has walked from one end of the dock to the other. The safety collars around the push buttons are beginning to get worn down. We cycle some of our rides upwards of 1200 times a day. This problem only gets worse when you add in operator fatigue, dehydration, low moral etc.

This is a very dangerous condition, it has led to more amusement ride related accidents then any other circumstance including mechanical failure. Having been an operator all of these years, I can tell you on several occasions I have personally experienced this sort of phenomenon. Newer operators are still afraid of the ride, so they are more likely to be on the alert. The 4-6 week mark is when they start becoming comfortable and start making mistakes. It was only when they reach about the 12-14 week mark that one has been exposed to the ride so much that they can completely operator autonomously while using their senses to operate the ride.

[Oscar]

Yeah, you can tell in the video, the overweight girl in blue has gone subconcious with it.

^LOL She's doing her exercises!

I can just see someone seriously injuring their back doing this. Most of the people in that video were twisting with their backs. That has to get painful after a while.