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Station fly-through: health & safety regulations

Fluorineer

Fluorineer

Mega Poster
Hey everyone,

whenever I'm queueing for a GCI with a station fly-through, I'm blown away by how ****ing loud they are - which is why they are amazing, but I also noticed that this must be a severe strain for the ride-ops. I mean, my gf gets a headache from waiting in a GCI-station for more than 5 minutes, however I've witnessed plenty of ride-ops who choose to not wear earplugs, which makes me believe that that's up to personal preference. My questions are:

- are there health & safety regulations in place regarding station fly-throughs? This is ought to be different between countries
- if they are in place, how do they affect staffing/ride operations financially?
- is the station fly-through sort of dying out due to how significant of an impact they have on how a wooden coaster has to be operated?
 
Although I cannot answer specifically regarding whether amusement parks with station fly-through GCIs, as well as GCI themselves, are accounting for noise exposure, I can dig into some old class notes and provide a general answer.

The main thing about noise exposure regulations is that it typically accounts for lengths of time that pertain to an average workday. According to my notes, the United States enforces a permissible exposure limit of 90 dBA for an 8 hour average and the EU enforces an 87 dBA PEL. Although it is likely that a train rumbling through the station exceeds 90 dBA for a few seconds, platform workers are not exposed to a constant noise above the PEL and instead those operating GCIs are typically undergoing a brief exposure of increased noise every three minutes or so. I would also imagine that the rides do not exceed an exposure of 115 dBA, which is OSHA's (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) absolute limit regardless of exposure duration.

Your question does make me think of a more broad question of, in general, how loud is an average amusement park? I mentor a high school robotics team, and the competitions we attend are multi-day events for 12+ hours each day. People have measured noise levels at some of these events and they always measure significantly above the 90 dBA PEL. I am wondering if amusement parks, with so many people close to each other combined with dozens of heavy machines generating a lot of noise, exhibit a similar trend of unhealthy sound levels.
 
Noticed a staff sign in the nemesis station this year for the first time.
"Ear protection is compulsory."
 
Forget about the GCI flythroughs, I wonder what the noise exposure levels of working near an Intamin Reverse Freefall coaster are, as those things are loud as hell...
 
Antinos said:
The main thing about noise exposure regulations is that it typically accounts for lengths of time that pertain to an average workday. According to my notes, the United States enforces a permissible exposure limit of 90 dBA for an 8 hour average and the EU enforces an 87 dBA PEL. Although it is likely that a train rumbling through the station exceeds 90 dBA for a few seconds, platform workers are not exposed to a constant noise above the PEL and instead those operating GCIs are typically undergoing a brief exposure of increased noise every three minutes or so. I would also imagine that the rides do not exceed an exposure of 115 dBA, which is OSHA's (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) absolute limit regardless of exposure duration.
Click to expand...

From all the hearing training I have received working in a factory. This is correct. I asked the lead ride opp on Thunderhead about wearing earplugs and she told me with one train operation the exposure limit is not exceeded but with two trains they are required to wear them. I have seen some take them out after a "flythrough" so they can communicate easier with guests and the guy running the controls.

They do make a wearable device that measures sound levels that a person working in a noisy environment is exposed to during the day. I would assume any reputable park would have these to test sound levels through out the park. If you are curious about what sound levels are generated a park. There are a few apps you can download to your smartphone that will give you readings.
 
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