9-year-old working midway ride on Vancouver Island when drunk passenger injured

A nine-year-old child was working for an amusement company for an event on Vancouver Island when a drunk ride goer fell from the ride and was injured.

The drunk woman was hurt after she failed to get off in time, and the ride began moving, tipping her out when it was between six and eight feet in the air.

A recently published Technical Safety BC report says a child was one of three people operating the ride when incident happened, May 31, in Port Hardy.

“The younger attendant had been trained in the specific procedures of loading and unloading the passenger carrying unit but did not have the experience or assertiveness necessary to deal with situations that deviated from the normal routine,” the Technical Safety BC report says.

The foreman had left the ride for a short period, leaving their child to help out.

“The younger attendant, who travels with the carnival, was left around the Zipper ride where they were helping the loading and unloading of passengers, which they had done several times previously at different fair locations,” the report reads.

The child was “really good at cracking buckets,” which is an industry term for getting people on and off the ride.

Together with another attendant, the nine-year-old would open one cage of the Zipper ride, while the other attendant opened another cage. The attendant nodded to the ride operator that their cage was empty, but the nine-year-old didn’t signal to the operator that the drunk woman had yet to get out.

As the cage began moving with the door open, she fell out.

The report says she sustained broken bones.

The nine-year-old described the drunken fair goers as “half asleep and half awake,” while another member of staff said they were “hammered.”

The incident took place on the popular fairground ride the Zipper. The ride has been used around the world since the 1960s, and the one in question was built in 1973.

“The popular Zipper ride that was involved in the incident is considered by employees to be one of the busiest and more advanced rides for operators to control and is run by the more experienced employees in a team from two to four people, depending on how busy the ride is,” the report says.

The report says there was no official procedure for attendants to load and unload the ride to make sure the cages were closed and locked before the operator activated the ride.

“Attendants have no formal training or procedures in assessing passenger suitability to ride and were uncomfortable in confronting and enforcing posted rules on passengers who appear intoxicated and frequently allow them to ride as opposed to creating a confrontation,” the report says.

“The attendant who was given the responsibility for unloading the passenger at the time of the incident did not have the experience and assertiveness required to mitigate or respond to a situation that deviated from the usual routine.”

Neither the name of the company or the individuals involved are named in the report, and there is no indication that Technical Safety BC issued a fine or penalty.