Amusement parks and their attractions are a popular place of entertainment for many people. To ensure the safety of users, it is important that attractions meet the necessary requirements, especially thrill rides.
The operator of the attractions is responsible for the safety of attraction. He must carry out the necessary checks and make the necessary provisions to ensure there is no danger to users or bystanders.
Regulations
The general terms and safety regulations in the Code of Economic Law, Book IX on the safety of products and services are supplemented to include more specific requirements set out in the Royal Decree of 10 June 2001 on the operation of attractions.
Obligations of the operator
The complexity of the attractions is one of the reasons why the risk analysis, preventative measures, checks and maintenance of the apparatus must be carried out carefully. After all, these are essential to guarantee the safety of users and bystanders.
In order to demonstrate that the attraction meets the safety regulations, the operator must carry out a risk analysis, potentially in collaboration with the third party.
This risk analysis enables the operator to draw up preventive measures, which are applied during the setting up and operation of the attraction.
For each attraction, the operator must draw up an inspection and maintenance schedule:
- regular inspection: daily or weekly;
- maintenance work: monthly or every two months;
- periodic inspection by an accredited body: annually.
Warnings and information for the user should be clearly visible. They should at least be written in the language or languages of the language region where the attraction is located.
List of accredited organizations (PDF, 67.43 KB)
Signs with warnings such as “use at your own risk” (or similar) are not allowed!
The operator must at all times be able to demonstrate that all these obligations are met by means of documentation, reports and/or schedules.
Risk analysis
The purpose of a risk analysis is to be able to demonstrate that all dangers have been identified, that the related risks have been assessed and that any unacceptable risks have been made acceptable with the use of preventive measures.
On the webpage “Service riski analysis: what should be included?” the FPS Economy clarifies what a risk analysis must be, what it should contain and what should be included.
Obligation to report
Serious incidents and accidents must be reported immediately to the Central Helpdesk. Use the accident or serious incident notification form (DOCX, 44.98 KB) (in French).
A serious accident is a fatal accident or an accident that causes or could cause a permanent injury.
A serious incident is an incident that leads or could lead to a serious accident.
