PROBLEMS ON RIDE ‘FROM THE WORD GO’

GOVERNMENT safety inspectors conducted almost 40 investigations in to Dreamworld and its sister water park in less than 15 years before the Thunder River Rapids disaster.

According to a report presented to the inquest yesterday, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland was involved in 38 investigations at Dreamworld and WhiteWater World between 2002 and 2016.

They performed 111 assessments and issued 36 notices and 10 advisories in 122 separate matters.

Some were minor, following up customer complaints or bumps and scrapes for guests on water slides, while others included comprehensive reviews of near-misses and safety breaches on rides.

Coroner James McDougall also heard the deadly conveyor belt on the Thunder River Rapids ride had problems “right from the word go”.

Former Dreamworld mechanics described frequent breakdowns and mechanical issues for the conveyor belt stretching back virtually to the ride’s inception in the 1980s.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland inspectors had previously told the inquest of their belief that a decision to remove two out of every three wooden slats was a major contributing factor in causing a raft full of passengers to flip on the day of the tragedy that resulted in the deaths of Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low.

Former maintenance controller John Angilly said the decision to remove slats from the ride was made by superiors to reduce the weight on the chain operating the conveyor up to 30 years ago.

“We had to continuously replace sections of the chain,” he said. “The conveyor right from the word go used to trip (because of the weight).

“I think they considered it was sufficient to take out two planks and still have enough surface to carry the rafts up the conveyor.”