House Bill 1059, enacted by the 76th Legislature, amended the Amusement Ride Safety Inspection and Insurance Act. These changes are effective January 1, 2000.
The purpose of this bulletin is to alert you to certain changes in the law applicable to amusement ride owners/operators. This information is being provided for your use in the interim, until final rules are proposed and adopted by the Texas Department of Insurance, in order to allow sufficient time to prepare for compliance with two components of the new requirements.
- PUBLIC INFORMATION SIGN
The new law requires that any person operating an amusement ride in Texas shall post a sign to inform the public how to report an amusement ride that appears to be unsafe, or an amusement ride operator who appears to be in violation of the law.
The sign must be posted at the principal entrance to the site at which an amusement ride is located or at any location on that site at which tickets for an amusement ride are available. The sign should direct the public to a contact person and a specific location on site. In the very near future, the Texas Department of Insurance will be proposing rules containing requirements for the sign to be printed in both English and Spanish. The following is an interim suggestion for language to be used to comply with the new requirements:
PUBLIC NOTICE
FOR YOUR SAFETY
| PLEASE NOTIFY _________________________ | AT _____________________________ |
| (TITLE OF CONTACT PERSON) | (ON-SITE LOCATION) |
IF YOU SEE OR EXPERIENCE UNSAFE CONDITIONS ON AN
AMUSEMENT RIDE OR BY AN AMUSEMENT RIDE OPERATOR
AVÍSO PUBLICO
PARA SU SEGURIDAD
| POR FAVOR NOTIFIQUE A ____________________ | EN ________________________ |
| (TITULO DE LA PERSONA DE CONTACTO) | (EN-SITIO LOCALE) |
SI USTED OBSERVA O EXPERIMENTA ALGUNA CONDICIÓN
PELIGROSA EN UNA ATRACCIÓN MECÁNICA DE UN PARQUE DE
DIVERSIÓN, O CAUSADA POR EL OPERADOR DE LA ATRACCIÓN
- DAILY SAFETY INSPECTIONS
The new law also provides that any person operating mobile amusement rides in Texas must perform daily inspections of the rides, including daily inspection of safety restraints. Records of the daily inspections must be available for inspection by law enforcement officials at any location at which an amusement ride is operated.
The daily inspection report should include the name of the device, location (city and state), date of inspection, manufacturer and serial number, owner, operator and the authorized inspector's signature as well as a record of the safety inspections performed. Daily inspection forms from industry associations, individual operators, and individual manufacturers will satisfy this requirement if they contain the inspection of the safety restraints.
For all inspections, follow the manufacturer´s specific checklist for specific ride maintenance and safety checks.
A draft of the proposed Amusement Ride rules will be available on the Texas Department of Insurance's website at www.tdi.state.tx.us. for your review and comments.
Questions regarding these requirements and other changes in the Amusement Ride Safety Inspection and Insurance Act should be directed to Richard Baker, Manager, Loss Control Regulation, Phone 512-322-2259, Fax 512-305-7425.
Sincerely,
Richard Baker
Manager
Loss Control Regulation
Mail Code 103-1D