One of Cornwall’s most popular tourist attractions, the Eden Project, has recently come under fire after a visitor suffered a horrific rope burn injury on the zip wire ride.
Safety and tourism
When it comes to thrill rides and experiences, both abroad or in the UK, safety procedures and staff training need to be in perfect unison. Visitor attractions welcome mostly non locals who could struggle to get home comfortably if they were to suffer an injury.
On average, 4,300 people each week need medical treatment abroad while they are on holiday. There is always the risk of suffering an injury on holiday, whether it happens at a tourist attraction, the hotel you are staying in or at a theme park. These can be harder to avoid when abroad because of differing safety legislation than there is in UK.
In the UK such injuries on out tourist attractions can be avoided through strong legislation, staff training and safety procedures (something recently lacking at the Eden project swing ride).
Over 500 people were injured in the UK in theme and amusement parks in the last year. This is still a reasonably low figure compared to many European attractions. However, this still can be better and it is the ambition each year by the UK tourism industry, to strive for 0 injuries (as any industry should) by looking to improve procedures following any incident like the Eden project zip line injury.
The gravity swing in action at the Eden Project
Zip line injury
The injury in question happened when a visitor to the Eden project facility, Miss Claire Hatch, rode on their gravity swing slide. The ride is positioned 19 meters high, before allowing riders to glide in a 50mph freefall.
The injury to Miss Hatch occurred when the zip line on the swing attached itself to Claire’s neck and yanked her backwards. It happened when the member of staff who was in charge of safety, failed to tie the cable back and left it loose. To add to the problems, no paramedic was on hand. This resulted in a 45 minute wait for medical aid to arrive.
Injury claims often occur in a manner similar to the Eden project story. The cause usually comes down to a ride or attraction being manned by either an untrained or an inexperienced member of staff, without proper backup from safety trained staff. The Eden Project management have come forward since Miss Hatch’s injury to say “As a result of the incident, we have reviewed the design of the swing’s release mechanism, our standard operating procedures and our staff training”.
Action available
Unfortunately for Claire, the incident involving the zip wire did occur and while resolving the safety problem and ensuring it doesn’t happen again is a positive, it can’t change the damage caused. Her injuries included deep rope burns and whiplash from being thrown by the neck.
Thankfully, Miss Hatch would have been able to take adequate legal action following her injuries as negligence for visitor safety is not acceptable in any circumstance. The same is applicable to everyone else in a similar situation, including yourself, your family and friends.
If you have visited a tourist attraction and fallen foul of poor staff, negligent actions or dangerous activities, you can make a personal injury claim and offset some of the damage caused, including physical harm, medical expenses and time away from work.
To get in touch for free, impartial legal advice you can call Scott Rees & Co on 01695 722 222. We are open weekdays from 9am to 7pm and can call you back at a time suitable for you. We offer a no win no fee service ensuring no risk in any personal injury claim undertaken with us.