March 27, 2012 – The IAAPA Safety Institute for Amusement Parks and Attractions drew in over 500 delegates at the Enchanting Events Place of Enchanted Kingdom. Participants from different provinces in the country trooped to the country's first safety summit hosted by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) in its advocacy to promote safety awareness for the amusement park and attraction industry.
To make the summit happen, IAAPA and the Philippine Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (PhilAAPA), partnered with Enchanted Kingdom, Resorts World Manila, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Westech International Inc., and Hopkins to help create an awareness to the local government units (LGUs), fire marshals, and members of the Congress among others, how the cooperation of the government leaders with the amusement and attraction industry can help in building a safety culture among amusement parks and attractions in the country. The summit also pointed out how the safety culture can help the tourism in the Philippines.
Industry leaders from the United States, Singapore, and Hong Kong flew into the Philippines and gathered together to speak on the twin topics of safety and standards. The speakers included, Randy Davis, Vice President for Safety of IAAPA; Darren Lim, Deputy Director, Amusement Rides Safety, Building & Construction Authority, Singapore; Noble Coker, Vice President, Park Operations, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort; Doug Stagner, Corporate Senior Director of Operations, Sea World Parks & Entertainment, Florida, USA; Richard A. Carroll, Senior Vice President and COO, Jeff Ellis & Associates, Inc., USA; Frankie Hau, Environmental Health and Safety Manager, Ocean Park, Hong Kong; and Ramon Santos, President, Westech International. The summit was also attended by IAAPA’s Vice President for Education, John Henderson.
Mario O. Mamon, Chairman and President of Enchanted Kingdom delivered the welcome remarks and stated that, ”It is very important that we learn because it creates and starts the awareness of a culture of safety in the amusement and attractions industry that is slowly growing here in the Philippines”. Mr. Mamon is the current 2nd Vice Chairman of IAAPA and will be the first Asian to assume the presidency of IAAPA in 2014.
During the IAAPA Safety Institute, Mr. Noble Coker of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort explained how the amusement park and attraction is a global industry. With the perception that everyone competes in this kind of industry, the leaders made it clear that they help each other to promote standards for safety. This is due to the fact that whenever untoward incidents happen to any amusement park or attraction; it also affects them because people start to doubt the safety of each and every ride and attraction. Mr. Coker also emphasized that, ”safety starts with leadership and ownership”. This encouraged the amusement and attraction owners who attended the event to maintain investing on the quality of materials and structures that are being used.
The industry leaders also explained that there should be an independent inspection among amusement parks and attractions to assure the safety of the theme park’s facilities. Mr. Doug Stagner stated that, “Process is important. Go out and figure out the standards. What works for Singapore may not work for the Philippines.” During the open forum, when the speakers were asked how the fire bureau can be part of the safety in amusement parks and attractions, he said that in Singapore, “We give power to local authorities to say yes or no to the rides.”
Mr. Frankie Hau of Hong Kong’s Ocean Park reminded everyone that “safety is everyone’s responsibility” and that whenever something goes wrong in the operations, he advised that punishment is not the best solution, but rather looking at the process and SOP and find out what has been wrong.
The only Filipino speaker in the summit, Mr. Ramon Santos of Westech International Philippines Inc. stated that the industry in the Philippines should look at the prevention of the past accidents in amusement parks especially in mobile carnivals.
The summit was indubitably a success and participants hoped for an annual IAAPA Safety Institute in the country.
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