Thunder River Rapids Incident Coronial Inquest

[MacPark]

6 hours ago, themagician said:

"Dreamworld's owner has promised the theme park will become among the safest in the world once safety measures, design improvements and new rides are operational."

 

 

So they are admitting they arent a very safe park? But they WILL become one.... Righto.. They should probably just shut up for a while I think.

[Brad2912]

Your quoted comment is actually an author written statement, and none of the actual quotes themselves are worded in such a way. 

Im actually pretty happy with the actual quotes from Weiss. Doesn’t absolve or diminish their mistakes or negligence, but points to an acknowledgement that there is a lot of work to do to regain trust and safety is the forefront.

Saying nothing allows the media to create their own narrative 

[MacPark]

16 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

Your quoted comment is actually an author written statement, and none of the actual quotes themselves are worded in such a way. 

Im actually pretty happy with the actual quotes from Weiss. Doesn’t absolve or diminish their mistakes or negligence, but points to an acknowledgement that there is a lot of work to do to regain trust and safety is the forefront.

Saying nothing allows the media to create their own narrative 

yeah fair enough. I didnt realize that.

I still think they have dug too serious a hole to get out of. Implementing the kind of safety procedures that would be expected  by the public to win back public image trust will cause two issues. A huge spend and lets face it, Ardent wont want to have to spend huge amounts of money of state of the art safety features and extra staff and staff training if there is "no" guests. Share holders still expect their returns regardless and will only wait for so long. Mass sell off of assets "eg bowling  alleys and skypoint" to keep dreamworld afloat is most probable.  Secondly is the issue of going overboard to the point that loading rides and safety check goes too far and slows things to stupidly slow speeds to get people in to rides causing huge frustration.

 

I am of the belief that Dreamworlds great years are long gone and unrecoverable. The odd CEO or exec change here and their doesnt change the core team at the top. Its the same people with the same thinking trying to cover their arse while working to budgets and and trying to hit sales targets in order to maximize profits for investors. They dont get these jobs to run a fun theme park. They get these jobs because they are good as raising revenue, tightening spending and raising profits. Throw in major incident in their where people have died and its a very tough task. Their is a reason no one wants the Ardent CEO position and I cant see anyone wanting the parks ceo position unless its for huge amounts of money. The ardent CEO position has been called the poisoned chalice of Australian business. I tend to agree.

Edited July 1, 2018 by MacPark

[Brad2912]

The bowling division was sold at the beginning of the year. Ardent (soon to be Main Event) now only have interests in DW, Skypoint & ME.

In senior management, from Ardent level down to DW level, there is basically no one remaining involved with the business that was in place in Oct 2016. 

The Ardent CEO position only became a poisoned Chalice after the incident. 

The question is whether Ardent wants to invest which would involve redirecting funds likely planned for the ME expansion rollout, or they want to sell up. 

 

Edited July 1, 2018 by Brad2912

[MacPark]

9 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

The bowling division was sold at the beginning of the year. Ardent (soon to be Main Event) now only have interests in DW, Skypoint & ME.

In senior management, from Ardent level down to DW level, there is basically no one remaining involved with the business that was in place in Oct 2016. 

The Ardent CEO position only became a poisoned Chalice after the incident. 

The question is whether Ardent wants to invest which would involve redirecting funds likely planned for the ME expansion rollout, or they want to sell up. 

 

Many of Dreamworld main team are still involved at the top. They have done nothing but alot of internal shuffling. Interestingly their COO is still in his position but due to it being less of a media face role its not been brought up.

Looking that ardent have indeed sold the bowing alleys. the marina and the gyms at the moment the think with value is main event and skypoint. Skypoint is no huge cash cow but ticks along with a reasonable profit per year. They infact sold off the marinas and bowling to free up returns for investors after the incident. I wonder what the next option is? They wont sell main event. Its doing well and while I was working for the company their was talk of the American arm of the company wanting more control of ardent than they currently have with more Americans on the board and calling shots. I am amusing this still hold true.

[rappa]

Look let's face it, it's all PR bullshit for the media and the shareholders. 

 

Unless they get rid of:

-anyone with control of maintenance decisions

-anyone with control of operational and training decisions

-anyone with control of safety decisions

-anyone with control of park design and capital decidions

 

 and they are ALL replaced with people with years of specific (and successful!) theme park experience the place will NEVER change. 

[New display name]

True words @djrappa

DW requires an enema.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, Skeeta said:

DW requires an enema.

Might flush the algae out of the Murrissippi...

[Levithian]

You don't need to get rid of all those people. You simply need to get rid of who is one position higher than the majority of those people (capital and purchasing stuff is most likely going to be the board), assuming of course they haven't got their hands tied by company policy.

Everyone below can either fall into line and embrace the changes or find themselves another position. You just need to actually give the person enough power and responsibility to enact change and find someone with the balls to make voices heard.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Too many Koalas for that to be effective though @Levithian

A koala is a protected species, that contributes nothing to the ecosystem, and simply feeds off an abundant supply of food until it is no longer available

I don't think people are suggesting all the rank and file workers get the arse. I think what's being suggested is that every person above those people who have ever made a decision based on whether or not they will fit within their budget, get their bonus, or please their boss, and have at any time determined that, or any other thing over spending money on fixing a piece of machinery that people pay to ride in safely.

Despite some alleged shill testimoney (not sic) there were damning reports out of the inquest about recommendations that were ignored. People who were too busy to do their job properly... without going any further - that's too far.

I have a fair idea what you do for a crust. If you raised a concern to your boss about something being unsafe at your workplace, and they told you to ignore it \ get on with the job \ sign off on it anyway \ it's always been like that why fix it now... would you just go with the flow? or would you immediately raise it somewhere else?

this is the problem.

Edited July 2, 2018 by AlexB

[Candygirl]

I don’t think at this stage getting rid of people will do enough.

Reading some of the details of the inquest so far it would be like re-arranging deckchairs on the Titanic.

There needs to be an entire cultural change in the way the park is run and that takes time for such a large and transient workforce. In the 18 months since the incident they could have made real progress with that already but a couple of things I noted on visits since makes me think they haven’t, or not enough. Reactive still.

Some of the inquest information wasn’t new, rumours had told us a trainee was working that day, that the pump had failed and that slats had been removed from the conveyor years earlier.

What I hadn’t anticipated was the sheer lack of risk management. There has been barely any mention of risk assessments of due diligence. I think the closest would be opening checks, but no process or follow up to ensure they are robust?

It could be they are mentioned later in the year but with so many employees taking the stand already these processes and supporting paperwork would have been mentioned if they existed, surely?

When you run any customer facing business having an abundance of risk assessments that are used, updated and are part of the business operation AND having due diligence process and paperwork are what prevent accident or injury to your team and guests..... be it a burn from a hot coffee or ultimately death.

If they don’t prevent it then frankly that process and paperwork demonstrates the H&S culture that runs through the business and ultimately becomes ass covering. They appear to have no pants on right now.

The earlier empty raft flip asides even the recent log ride incident should have triggered something..... ‘someone falls out of the log, we need to use this incident to update our risk assessments, what about TRR too as that’s a water ride, what if a guest stands near the conveyor there? Oh wait we removed heaps of slats.’

The errors are so many that it wreaks of arrogant complacency. The team on the ground lack leadership and the leaders above are too far removed to get their hands dirty with management. Sure some of this will be about saving dollar and cutting budgets, people may have had their hands tied for repairs or staffing levels..... but lack of process, which costs far less, is where it seems really off to me.

Apologies for such a long first post, I’m very passionate about Dreamworld ( like so many).

A few memories from riding TRR...

- Rafts often seemed to stick at the unload ( usually empty ones🤔). Been on the conveyor a few times thinking we might bump and the unload operator had a trusty pole or foot to nudge the raft in front on,

- The unload area had a prominent button ( no idea what it stopped exactly). So prominent the unload operator often stood in front, arms wide, to guard it from (children) pressing as they exit.

- The last time I rode I took a 1 year old on my lap and as the raft angled up to ride the conveyor hill I looked at the chains through the gappy slats and said ‘cr*p, this is the scariest part of the ride, you wouldn’t want to fall out here ‘ 😞

 

[DJKostya]

An article that is actually quite positive about Dreamworld

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/dreamworld-left-reeling-as-inquest-lays-bare-shocking-shortcomings/news-story/854fc4d864d7128a1ae8eb52012f6895

Dreamworld left reeling as inquest lays bare shocking shortcomings

Jeremy Pierce, The Courier-Mail

July 3, 2018 12:00am

IT’S as ironic as it is tragic.

There has probably never been a better time to go to Dreamworld.

Almost two years after the theme park tragedy which claimed four lives, Dreamworld has been left reeling again as an inquest laid bare the shocking shortcomings that contributed to the disaster.

Around the Gold Coast, people have murmured that as horrific as the October 2016 tragedy was, in some ways the inquest has been worse.

This was not simply some one-in-a-million freak accident. Some of the evidence presented at the inquest in terms of training and safety procedures almost defied belief.

But if any good can come from the deaths of Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low, it is as the catalyst to ensure nothing like that terrible day ever happens again.

Which is why Dreamworld today is safer than it has ever been.

Safety audits carried out after the Thunder River Rapids disaster revealed major compliance issues — issues that have since been rectified and then some.

Dreamworld now is in far better hands than it was two years ago.

Crowds have been slow to return and Gary Weiss, the chairman of Dreamworld’s parent company Ardent Leisure, concedes it is now a battle to regain trust.

Since the inquest adjourned on Friday afternoon, action has been swift. CEO Craig Davidson, a popular and brave leader in the aftermath of the tragedy, has fallen on his sword.

More executive-level changes are in the works and already a new risk management expert has been appointed.

Ironically, the holiday-makers prepared to visit Dreamworld now are making the most of it.

Dreaded ride queues are virtually non-existent, which means more bang for your buck.

It’s now often possible to tick off all of Dreamworld’s ‘Big 9’ thrill rides in a couple of hours, leaving more time to wander the park’s new attractions, like the revamped Tiger Island, Australia’s first LEGO store and a new Trolls Village, a world-first based on the characters

from the Dreamworks movie franchise.

For the opening weekend of the school holidays, Sunday was quiet, but crowds on the Friday and Saturday immediately beforehand were huge.

That coincided with a chance for season ticket holders to renew their annual passes at a discount.

Just a few weeks earlier, another promotional deal packed the place, to the point the car park — often mostly empty in the months after the tragedy, was overflowing, with hundreds of cars parked along nearby service roads.

Clearly, those people are prepared to give Dreamworld another chance.

So are many on the Gold Coast, where Dreamworld is one of the region’s biggest employers.

Most of us know people who work there and it has been the scene of some of our best memories.

Most hope that despite the tragedy of October, 2016, and the shock of last week’s inquest, Dreamworld still has a future.

A future that we can all be a part of.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

12 hours ago, Candygirl said:

Some of the inquest information wasn’t new, rumours had told us a trainee was working that day

What shits me about this particular detail is how out of context most reports portray it.

Many media reports said 'first day on the job' - which can be twisted to be true, but doesn't convey the proper meaning. She was new to the ride, but she was a level two operator (clearly training up to be level 3), so she'd done her time on many other rides in the park before she'd stepped up to TRRR. it's not like it was her first day operating rides...

[MickeyD]

Welcome to Parkz @Candygirl!

I really enjoyed your mature and well articulated summary and hope you continue to contribute - and that this isn't a once off😃

 

[Slick]

1 hour ago, AlexB said:

What shits me about this particular detail is how out of context most reports portray it.

Many media reports said 'first day on the job' - which can be twisted to be true, but doesn't convey the proper meaning. She was new to the ride, but she was a level two operator (clearly training up to be level 3), so she'd done her time on many other rides in the park before she'd stepped up to TRRR. it's not like it was her first day operating rides...

She was a junior being trained to become a level 2 operator.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

This is what I mean... so much information and none of it agrees.

 

my main point is she wasn’t as new as she is portrayed:

”she had worked at dreamworld for more than a year and was trained to various levels on different rides, but had never worked on the thunder river rapids ride before, which was viewed by employees as one of the most challenging rides”

[themagician]

This satellite image was taken in May, and you can see what the area now looks like with the station and mine ride completely removed. You can also see that parts of the ride have been filled in.

[Jamberoo Fan]

The coronial inquest into the Thunder River Rapids incident resumes in Southport on Monday the 8th of October. It will be held everyday (presumably excluding weekends), starting at 10am, until Friday the 19th of October where it will presumably adjourn again until the 12th of November.

The Australian Associated Press via 7 News reported today:

Quote

The owner of Dreamworld has again promised to comply with all recommendations stemming from an investigation into the deaths of four people at the Gold Coast theme park in 2016.

Gary Weiss, chairman of Ardent Leisure, the company that owns Dreamwolrd, on Friday repeated the company's commitment to take on the coroner's suggestions.

"We will continue to fully cooperate with the Coroner and counsel assisting throughout the Inquest hearings and will implement all recommendations," Dr Weiss said.

"We are committed to ensuring Dreamworld becomes recognised as Australia's global benchmark for theme park safety."

Edited October 5, 2018 by Jamberoo Fan

[MickeyD]

3 minutes ago, Jamberoo Fan said:

"We are committed to ensuring Dreamworld becomes recognised as Australia's global benchmark for theme park safety."

Oh please DW stop.. just stop. 

The likes of Disney don't even know who you are, better still would they ever follow your pathetic example. And neither should (or will) anybody else, for that matter

[TomiJ]

14 minutes ago, Jamberoo Fan said:

"We are committed to ensuring Dreamworld becomes recognised as Australia's global benchmark for theme park safety."

So this is what the global benchmark looks like:

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

Could you imagine if Disney Land had the same amount of majors rides closed as DW does.

[Levithian]

Yeah. Never in the history of mankind has something been closed for any issue at all with safety. 

And in this case, safety could mean not having the staff levels to complete major maintenance works on time so some things are going to have to remain closed until it can be completed as their annuals are up and nobody would dare run anything past its annual inspection anymore.

[Whombex]

@Jdude95 are you able to attend this again?

[Jdude95]

Yes, I will be attending an live posting from the courtroom again.

[Brad2912]

A FORMER senior Dreamworld manager is expected to make an application to give evidence under special provisions when the inquest into what caused the Thunder River Rapids Ride tragedy starts again on Monday.

The special provisions will mean the employee will not be able to prosecuted for any information revealed about the tragedy during the inquest.

The disaster occurred after a pump stopped working on the Thunder River Rapids Ride, causing water levels to drop and a raft to become stuck on the conveyor belt on October 25, 2016.

That raft was hit by another carrying Luke Dorsett, his sister Kate Goodchild, her daughter Ebony, 12, Roozbeh Araghi, Cindy Low and her son, Kieran, 10.

The four adults were killed. The children were uninjured.

The second round of evidence follows two harrowing weeks in June when a number of revelations were revealed including a confusing control panel, a lack of training and cost cutting measure were in place at the time of the disaster.

The inquest will spend the next two weeks hearing evidence from 22 witnesses — a majority Dreamworld employees including middle and upper management.

Counsel assisting the coroner Ken Fleming said the next two weeks would shift focus away from the event itself and more onto Dreamworld’s safety policies.

“We will be moving away from the actual event … it will be looking at that and seeing why they did this,” he said.

The first two witnesses on Monday are Stephen Murphy and Grant Naumann, maintenance staff who were involved in ride breakdown procedures.

On Tuesday the inquest is expected hear evidence from Dreamworld engineer Gen Cruz, safety officer John Clark and former Dreamworld ride operator Stephen Buss.

Mr Buss was sacked by Dreamworld after a “safety incident” in November 2014 in which two rafts collided on the conveyor belt.

Barrister for Ms Goodchild’s partner David Turner and Mr Dorsett father Shayne Goodchild, Steven Whybrow at the inquest in June read from Mr Buss’s termination letter that “a raft containing guests has bottomed out at the top of the conveyor due to water supply”.

“An additional raft containing guests has then collided with it that continued to be pushed by the conveyor until it was shut down.”

The inquiry was told Mr Buss shut down the ride and started it up again.

The final witness on the list of the next two weeks is Dreamworld park operations manager Troy Margettes. Two days has been set aside for his evidence.

In June ride operator Courtney Williams, who was at the controls when the tragedy occurred, told the inquest a manager named Troy had told her not to talk to police.

Ardent Leisure Chairman Gary Weiss yesterday released a statement ahead of the next round of hearings.

“Firstly, this will be a difficult time for many and our hearts and thoughts firmly remain with the families and all those affected by this tragedy,” Dr Weiss said.

“Following the comprehensive three-tier engineering and safety review of rides and attractions that was commenced at the end of 2016, Dreamworld continues to implement parkwide safety initiatives covering rides, attractions, training and safety systems and procedures.”

He said last month Workplace Health and Safety Queensland conducted a week-long inspection of all rides and no improvement notices were issued.

After the conclusion of the two weeks of sittings, the inquest will return again in November.

The November sittings are expected to focus on the role of the state safety regulators.