‘EVERYONE’ TO BLAME
A DREAMWORLD worker says “everyone” involved in ensuring the Thunder River Rapids Ride was safe failed the families of the four people who died in the October 2016 tragedy.
Maintenance planner Grant Naumann made the bombshell admission at the inquest into the deaths of Luke Dorsett, Kate Goodchild, Roozbeh Araghi and Cindy Low yesterday.
Another shocking revelation at the inquest: A maintenance worker never checked an “emergency stop button” on the ride’s control panel because he did not know what it did.
EVERYBODY failed the four people who died on the Thunder River Rapids Ride, a Dreamworld maintenance planner told the inquest into their deaths.
Maintenance planner Grant Naumann made the shocking admission about safety yesterday on the first day after the inquest resumed after a fourmonth break.
Mr Naumann also told the inquest yesterday repairs on rides were sometimes delayed due to budget concerns.
The inquest is examining what happened after a pump stopped working on the Thunder River Rapids Ride, causing water levels to drop and a raft to become stuck on the conveyor belt on October 25, 2016.
That raft was hit by another carrying Luke Dorsett, his sister Kate Goodchild, her daughter Ebony, 12, Roozbeh Araghi, Cindy Low and her son, Kieran, 10. The four adults were killed. The children were uninjured.
Mr Naumann yesterday answered questions about safety processes and procedures followed in the maintenance of rides at Dreamworld.
Counsel assisting the coroner Ken Fleming asked: “Whose job was it to determine the safety of a ride like this?”
“Everybody’s,” Mr Naumann said.
Mr Fleming questioned him again: “Are you then saying there has been a total failure by everybody in determining the safety issues of this ride?”
“In hindsight, yes,” Mr Naumann said.
The bombshell was among revelations made in the Coroner’s Court of Queensland in Southport yesterday when Mr Naumann and Dreamworld maintenance staff Stephen Murphy and Gen Cruz took the stand. They included:
● Some ride repairs were delayed for budget reasons;
● Maintenance staff never checked an “emergency stop button” on the ride’s control panel because they did not know what it did;
● Risk assessments were not done during the annual maintenance shut down;
● A work order for the 2017 annual maintenance on the ride shut down was made the day after the tragedy;
● An engineer hired to conduct maintenance audits had not yet done it for the ride.
Mr Naumann told the inquest repairs could be delayed.
“There were discussions as to the cost of repairs or replacements and if it could be deferred as to a time it would better fit the budget,” he said.
A transcript of an interview between Mr Naumann and Workplace Health and Safety investigators revealed the Thunder River Rapids Ride was corroded in places.
“It was probably duly noted and scheduled for corrective action when it could be done and could be afforded to be done,” he said in the interview.
Mr Naumann said he had overseen the ride’s annual maintenance in April and May 2016 when the ride’s conveyor was taken apart to replace the chain and fix damaged planks.
Maintenance supervisor Stephen Murphy told the inquest he checked the planks regularly during pre-start checks. As a part of those checks he used one of the emergency stop buttons but he did not test the emergency stop on the operator’s control panel as he did not know what it did.
“That is not a part of my preoperational checks,” he said.
Dreamworld junior engineer Gen Cruz told the inquest he believed he was the only person working at the park with engineering qualifications.
When he was hired in 2014 he was tasked with conducting a maintenance audit on all rides. He never got to the Thunder River Rapids Ride.
“... I had been instructed to prioritise the big nine rides ... The Thunder River Rapids Ride is close to the bottom,” he said. Mr Cruz said the audit was to get missing documents including manuals and safety bulletins. He agreed proper maintenance could not be done without them.
Mr Cruz is due to continue his evidence this morning.