A ferris wheel at the Illuminate Light & Sound Experience in Christchurch. Photo: Illuminate Light & Sound Experience / Facebook
The engineer who signed off a ferris wheel that lost a part at a Christchurch light show says New Zealand's amusement rides are well-regulated.
WorkSafe inspected the ferris wheel at Illuminate at the Botanic Gardens after a complaint about a part falling off mid-ride on Sunday but found the issue was cosmetic and non-structural and cleared the ride to reopen.
Chartered professional engineer Joe Bain certified the ferris wheel, which he said was in good condition.
"There is nothing wrong with it, it is in very sound condition, very good condition. It is functional and safe," he said.
Bain said a cover that works in a similar way to a hub cap had come loose and people's safety would not have been compromised at any point.
"For somebody who doesn't have a technical grounding it is natural enough to see that and be concerned and want to know what the story is. That's how I get involved," he said.
"I have ridden it myself, and I would have no qualms about doing so again."
While some of the country's amusement rides needed a tidy up and paint job, all needed to be registered with WorkSafe and a certificate of examination from a chartered professional engineer with a mechanical engineering qualification, Bain said.
"There is a very small group of us who specialise in this, and we take it very seriously," he said.
Bain said no-one had died on an amusement ride since 1973, when two teenage girls died in a fall in Palmerston North, making it one of the country's best performing sectors for health and safety.
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