Ohio State Fair ride inspections underway
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – There will be 65 rides at this year’s Ohio State Fair, and the Ohio Department of Agriculture has been at the fairgrounds since Thursday inspecting those rides.
Inspectors look at every inch of these rides to make sure nothing is loose or out of place; until each ride passes inspection, they will not be put into operation.
“Safety is key, that is number one,” Ohio Department of Agriculture Chief Ride Inspector Ron Dean said.
Dean said they will start with structural inspections.
“There's bolts to hold these big arms on. We're going to be looking to make sure those are in place and everything's tight and secured,” he said. “We're going to do a visual inspection of all the welds that we can see, looking for any kind of cracks or deformities.”
Dean said they will also inspect the seating area of the rides to make sure everything is in place and secure as well as the backup safety chains being intact. He said they also check the restraints to make sure they are in good condition, making sure they open and lock properly.
“So there's multiple stages that we look at them,” Dean said. “Again, the different structural components as the rides assemble and we're going to check for pins and retainers, make sure everything's assembled properly, and then once everything's ready to go, we get into operational checks. We're going to check all the safety features that are on the ride, the start and stop switch, anything with the restraints to make sure all that stuff works. And then once that's all finalized, some of these rides have specific testing requirements from the manufacturer.”
Dean said if they find an issue, they call the ride company, Talley Amusements.
“A third-party inspector that I hire that comes in here just to, you know, oversee and just pick up the slack a little bit for us, so we make sure that all these rides are maintained and super safe for the public,” Talley Amusements Inc. Vice President Mary Talley said.
They also have to do operational inspections to ensure the rides' emergency stop and evacuations work properly.
Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Brian Baldridge said rides will not be given a permit until they meet all the guidelines.
“Our ride inspectors are highly trained,” he said. “We have four that are trained to the highest level across the country.”
Baldridge said the department is not just in charge of inspecting ride safety, but also animal safety.
“That team comes in here and they're looking for health issues for animals,” he said. “Now, our farm families are very aware of health issues and they keep an eye on our animals, but to bring that expertise from a veterinary standpoint.”
The Department of Agriculture said there are still a few ride inspections left before the fair gates open, but are excited to kick off the 170th Ohio State Fair.
“We want to make sure that everything's operating the safest possible for all the riding public,” Dean said.
The department said it will have ride inspectors on the fairgrounds throughout the entire fair in case of emergencies.