Dreamworld’s parent company has been fined 3. 6.36 million after being convicted of safety costs in the 2016 Thunder River Rapids Ride crash that killed four people on the Gold Coast.
Ardent Leisure confessed to violating the Work Health and Safety Act and risking serious injury or death to individuals.
Cindy Lowe, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and her partner Ruzi Aragi died when the water pump on the ride malfunctioned, causing the water level to drop dangerously.
Two children – Ebony Turner and Kieran Lowe, then 10 and 12 – escaped without bodily injury.
The accident came to light on October 25, 2016 when his raft collided three times with another trapped in a low-lying conveyor belt.
Workplace health and safety prosecutor Aaron Gilfoil told Southport Court on Monday that the trapped raft was also ically lifted before being placed in a horizontal position.
The constant movement of the conveyor pulled the doomed raft into the mechanism.
“It ripped pieces of fiberglass from the raft which violently shook Ms Goodchild and Mr Dorsett causing the fall,” Gilfoil said.
“Mrs. Turner was caught swinging by a velcro seatbelt on her seat and Roozi Aragi and Sifty Lo were moved to the hollow part of the seat.”
Gilfoil told the court that while pump failure was a direct cause of the accident, there were other factors to consider.
He pointed out a number of failures to ensure the ride was run safely, including poor maintenance and inadequate shutdown procedures.
Earlier safety audits revealed a water level safety sensor that could cost less than $ 3,000 to prevent an accident.
The company also failed to provide the information, training, instruction or supervision needed to protect against dangerous people.
The pump defect was the third on the day and the fifth in the week and no automatic shutdown function was installed despite the recommendations.
“This ride has been in operation for 30 years, the pumps will fail at some point,” he said.
“There was a failure to implement control measures that would reduce or eliminate the risk in the event of a pump failure.
“They’re as much a cause of pump failure.”
Dorset was in court for sentencing and Goodchild’s mother, Kim Dorset, was first joined by Goodchild’s daughter Turner.
In a moving statement, Dorsett said with tears in his eyes that he cries “every day for my lost children.”
To this day, she said she was haunted by Ebony’s words.
“I couldn’t find the mummy” – these words have become the nightmare words that will stay with me till my death.
“I’ve never been alone and in solitude because I’m in pain.”
Dorsett said every day that she woke up disappointed.
“I have another day in hell.
“There are no words in a broken heart.”
Ardent’s senior adviser, Bruce Hodgkinson, opened the submissions with an apology to the families and all those affected by the 2016 tragedy.
He told the court that the safety and training of personnel at the park is fully covered.
“Ardent and Dreamworld have repeatedly engaged with the regulator in uninterrupted cooperation,” Hodgkins told the court.
“He has accepted responsibility for the tragedy and has taken significant steps to improve safety throughout the park.”
Magistrate Pam Dowes said the company had failed in its primary public safety duty.
She found that the company risked pump failure and reversing the raft before the accident.
“Complete and blind faith [was] Defendant was placed in place by everyone who rode in the Thunder River Rapids Ride and those guests were extremely sensitive. ”Dowes said.
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