As injuries at carnivals increase, questions begin to arise about the cause of accidents that injure riders and spectators. The design and construction of safer rides should bring a decrease in injuries as manufacturing of ride components improves. This has brought attention on the operators of rides who are often temporary employees, and due to the short work season can be spending too many hours per week on the job.
Use of Migrant Workers at Carnivals
Many workers at carnivals are migrants, and they may work as many as 14 hours per day, 7 days a week. The nature of the carnival means that sometimes an entire operation must be moved in 48 hours to the next location. This can mean loss of sleep and fatigue that could easily contribute to accidents. The fact is that many of these workers are being taken advantage of by carnival operators since they don’t speak English and may not understand their rights under labor laws.
Several public interest groups have filed lawsuits and complaints against carnival owners for violating the rights of these workers. The simple fact that the work conditions have attracted this kind of interest should be a red flag for regulators. Typically, the state agencies that handle carnivals focus on equipment inspection and the existence of liability insurance, rather than employee relations and working conditions.
Operator Fatigue Can Cause Accidents
Since almost 30% of accidents are caused by operator error, fatigue can easily play a role in causing injuries to riders. A simple mistake or lack of attention can put riders at risk from sudden stops, other riders or failure to engage safety equipment. The fact that the most critical aspect of a carnival’s safety is left to overworked operators suggests that carnival owners are putting riders in jeopardy in order to save on labor costs.
Some of the injuries are life altering, such as the teenage girl who was hurt when another car slammed into hers on a roller coaster. The car had been sent by a fatigued operator who simply failed to notice the other car on the track. The girl suffered back and neck injuries that are typical of high speed collisions, and continues to have ongoing complications from the accident.
There are lawsuits in these cases, but often they settle for low amounts given the uncertainty around establishing negligence or causation. Riders do bear some risk on a carnival ride, and expect some level of hazard. However, it is difficult to prove that an accident may have been caused by operator fatigue or unfair work conditions. Even if the operator was working long hours, a more direct link would be needed to establish liability for the carnival. Simply being inattentive might not be enough to show fault, especially if there were other contributing factors.