LADSON, S.C. (WCSC) - More than 250,000 people are expected to attend the Coastal Carolina Fair. Gates open at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
Ride inspectors have been checking rides to make sure they are up to safety standards.
Fair officials say the Coastal Carolina Fair goes beyond South Carolina's inspection standards.
In South Carolina, amusement rides must be inspected at least once a year. It’s a requirement through the state’s Labor Licensing Regulations. That means a fair could move from one town to another without a third party inspection.
However, the Coastal Carolina fair hires an independent company every year to inspect the rides from set up to breakdown and everyday in between.
The Wagner Consulting Group has inspectors on the ground throughout the day while the fair is open to insure that rides are up to safety standards.
The president of the Wagner Consulting Group, Jonathan Brooks, says any issue that a ride may have is corrected before it is open riders.
“Occasionally, we’ll find a loose bolt or a loose nut different things like that, all of that has to be tightened up,” Brooks said. “We have seat belts that are broken, all of that has to be fixed. All of the issues that we find are happening in transport because all of these devices are mobile with the exception of a chair lift.”
The safety coordinator for the fair, Joe Bolchoz, says the company bringing in the rides, Amusements of America, has an inspector and their ride operators also make sure each ride is operating appropriately.
Brooks says a big issue they see is people trying to take selfies on the ride.
He says don’t do it.
He says people should also follow directions posted on rides and height requirements.
The Wagner Consulting Group says it inspects fair rides in about 20 states and amusement park roller coasters. Last week they were inspecting roller coasters at an amusement park in Ohio.
“Every manufacture has a check list we got through it, we’ve been here from the time the amusement devices have arrived and so we’ve looked at them before they were put together we looked them as the process has come together and as they are gone together we look at everything from A to Z,” Brooks said.
Copyright 2019 WCSC. All rights reserved.