PART I | 1. This Act may be cited as the Amusement Rides Safety Act. |
2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“adverse incident”, in relation to an amusement ride, includes —| (a) | any malfunction of the amusement ride; | | (b) | any accident arising from the operation of the amusement ride; | | (c) | any occurrence of fire on the amusement ride or any part thereof (including the spread of smoke or any other harmful emission arising from such fire); | | (d) | the collapse, breakage, dislodgement or disengagement of any structure or component of the amusement ride; | | (e) | any occurrence arising from the operation of the amusement ride that results or is likely to result in —| (i) | any injury to or the death of any person who is using or operating, or in the vicinity of, the amusement ride; or | | (ii) | any person being stranded or trapped on or in any part of the amusement ride; and |
| | (f) | such other occurrence as may be prescribed as an adverse incident for the purposes of this Act; |
|
“amusement ride” means any mechanised or power-driven device or any combination of such devices, together with any machinery, equipment and plant connected thereto or used in connection therewith, which —| (a) | is designed to carry patrons on, along, around, over or through a fixed or restricted course, or within a defined area, for the primary purpose of giving such patrons amusement, pleasure, thrills or excitement; and | | (b) | is available for use by members of the public upon their payment of a fee or otherwise, |
| whether or not such device or combination of devices is erected to remain as a lasting part of any premises or is regularly relocated, and — |
| (i) | includes such other device or combination of devices as may be prescribed to be an amusement ride for the purposes of this Act; but | | (ii) | does not include any —| (A) | coin-operated ride; | | (B) | playground equipment; or | | (C) | device or combination of devices which is prescribed as not being an amusement ride for the purposes of this Act; |
|
|
| “Authority” means the Building and Construction Authority established under section 3 of the Building and Construction Authority Act (Cap. 30A); |
| “building” has the same meaning as in the Building Control Act (Cap. 29), and includes any part of an amusement ride which is declared to be a building under paragraph (g) of the definition of “building” in section 2(1) of that Act; |
| “building works” has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Building Control Act; |
| “certificate of compliance” means a certificate of compliance issued by the Commissioner of Civil Defence under section 36(4)(a) in respect of the fire and rescue management system of an amusement ride; |
“coin-operated ride” means any device which —| (a) | is fixed to a non-moving base; and | | (b) | upon the insertion of any coin, slug, token, plate or disc, operates as a ride for children; |
|
| “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Amusement Rides Safety appointed under section 3(1); |
| “Commissioner of Building Control” means the appropriate Commissioner of Building Control appointed under section 3(1) of the Building Control Act; |
| “Commissioner of Civil Defence” means the Commissioner of Civil Defence appointed under section 6 of the Civil Defence Act (Cap. 42) and includes any public officer or member of the Civil Defence Force who is designated by the Commissioner of Civil Defence to act in his place for the purposes of this Act; |
“component”, in relation to an amusement ride, means any part in the entire assembly of parts that make up the amusement ride, and includes —| (a) | any part of the structure of the amusement ride; | | (b) | any chair, car, capsule, cabin, gondola, boat, raft, vehicle or other conveyance which forms part of the amusement ride; | | (c) | any cable, chain, rope or cord used for the purposes of the amusement ride; and | | (d) | any electrical gadget, switch or device or any computer hardware or software used in connection with the operation of the amusement ride; |
|
“conformity assessor” means any person or body of persons (whether incorporated or not, and whether local or foreign) —| (a) | whose expertise is or includes the carrying out of procedures (including inspections, tests and certifications) for determining whether the design and specifications, the proposed installation method and programme or the proposed modification method and programme relating to a major amusement ride or the major modification thereof conform to any given technical standard or requirement; and | | (b) | who satisfies the prescribed requirements; |
|
“design and specifications” —| (a) | in relation to an amusement ride, means the design and specifications (including any plans and calculations) of or relating to —| (i) | the machinery, equipment and plant connected to, or used in connection with, the amusement ride; | | (ii) | the structure and components of the amusement ride; | | (iii) | the materials used to construct the amusement ride; | | (iv) | the stability and structural integrity of the amusement ride; and | | (v) | such other aspects of the amusement ride as may be prescribed; and |
| | (b) | in relation to any major modification to be carried out on an amusement ride, means the design and specifications (including any plans and calculations) in accordance with which any aspect of the amusement ride as referred to in paragraph (a)(i) to (v) is to be modified pursuant to the major modification; |
|
| “enforcement officer” means any person who is appointed under section 3(3) to be an enforcement officer for the purposes of this Act; |
| “existing amusement ride” means an amusement ride which has been in operation at any time during the period of 12 months immediately preceding 1st July 2011, whether on a continuous or an intermittent basis; |
“fire and rescue management system”, in relation to an amusement ride, means any installation, apparatus or equipment (whether integrated as part of the amusement ride or otherwise) and the protocols and instructions for the activation, operation and use thereof, which are designed to be used for —| (a) | addressing —| (i) | any occurrence of fire on the amusement ride or any part thereof (including the spread of smoke or any other harmful emission arising from such fire); | | (ii) | any occurrence arising from the operation of the amusement ride that results or is likely to result in any person being injured, stranded or trapped on or in any part of the amusement ride; and | | (iii) | such other occurrence arising from the operation of the amusement ride as may be prescribed; |
| | (b) | giving warning of any of the occurrences referred to in paragraph (a), or of the likelihood of any such occurrence; | | (c) | providing a means of rescue, escape or evacuation of persons from the amusement ride in the event of any of the occurrences referred to in paragraph (a); and | | (d) | providing access to any premises or place for the purpose of addressing any of the occurrences referred to in paragraph (a); |
|
| “install”, in relation to an amusement ride, means to construct, erect, assemble or put in place the amusement ride on any premises, but in relation to an amusement ride that is capable of being relocated, does not include to construct, erect, assemble or put in place that amusement ride on any premises arising from its relocation to those premises; |
| “installation method and programme”, in relation to an amusement ride, means the method and programme to be followed for the installation of the amusement ride, and includes all safety assessments and tests to be carried out during or upon the completion of the installation works; |
| “installation permit” means a permit issued by the Commissioner under section 6 authorising the installation of an amusement ride; |
| “installation works” means all works relating to the installation of an amusement ride, but does not include any building works relating to the construction or modification of any building which forms part of the amusement ride or to which the amusement ride is connected; |
| “major amusement ride” means any type of amusement ride which, on account of its design, size, structure, speed or other characteristics, is prescribed as a major amusement ride for the purposes of this Act; |
| “major modification”, in relation to an amusement ride, means any manner of change to the structure or mechanism of the amusement ride which is prescribed as a major modification for the purposes of this Act; |
| “minor modification”, in relation to an amusement ride, means any modification to the amusement ride (including any refurbishment thereof) which is not prescribed as a major modification for the purposes of this Act; |
| “modification method and programme”, in relation to the major modification of an amusement ride, means the method and programme to be followed for the major modification of the amusement ride, and includes all safety assessments and tests to be carried out during or upon the completion of the modification works; |
| “modification permit” means a permit issued by the Commissioner under section 24 authorising the major modification of an amusement ride; |
| “modification works” means all works relating to the major modification or minor modification (as the case may be) of an amusement ride, but does not include any building works relating to the construction or modification of any building which forms part of the amusement ride or to which the amusement ride is connected; |
| “operate”, in relation to an amusement ride, means to cause the amusement ride to be put to function for the purpose of making the use of the amusement ride available to members of the public, whether upon their payment of a fee or otherwise, and “operator” shall be construed accordingly; |
| “operating method”, in relation to an amusement ride, means the method by which, according to its design and specifications, the amusement ride is to be put to function, and includes all safety measures to be taken in the event of any adverse incident occurring in respect of the amusement ride; |
| “operating permit” means a permit issued by the Commissioner under section 14 authorising the holder thereof to operate an amusement ride; |
“owner” —| (a) | in relation to any premises, means the person for the time being receiving the rents or profits for the lease of the premises, whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for any other person, or who would so receive the rents or profits if the premises were so leased, and includes the person whose name is entered in the Valuation List prepared under section 10 of the Property Tax Act (Cap. 254); and | | (b) | in relation to an amusement ride, means the person for the time being receiving the rents or profits for the lease of the amusement ride, whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for any other person, or who would so receive the rents or profits if the amusement ride were so leased; |
|
| “patron” means any person who uses the amusement ride; |
“person responsible”, in relation to an amusement ride —| (a) | means the person who holds the operating permit in respect of the amusement ride; but | | (b) | if no person holds an operating permit in respect of the amusement ride for the time being, means any of the following persons:| (i) | the owner of the amusement ride or the person who has the charge, management or control of the amusement ride; | | (ii) | the owner of the premises on which the amusement ride is installed; | | (iii) | where the amusement ride is installed in an approved place within the meaning in section 2 of the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act (Cap. 257), and notwithstanding that the amusement ride is not a public entertainment within the meaning of that section, the holder of a licence under that Act in respect of the public entertainment that is provided at that approved place; | | (iv) | the person who is allowed by virtue of section 75 to operate the amusement ride without an operating permit; or | | (v) | such other person who is prescribed to be the person responsible for the amusement ride for the purposes of this Act; |
|
|
| “playground equipment” means any apparatus which is designed for recreational use in a playground and includes swings, seesaws, stationary spring-mounted animal features, rider-propelled merry-go-rounds, climbers, slides, trampolines and physical fitness devices; |
| “power-driven” means driven by mechanical, electrical, magnetic, pneumatic, hydraulic or any other means but does not include being driven solely by human physical effort; |
| “premises” means any place or building or part thereof, whether privately owned or not, to which the general public or any section of the general public is permitted to have access, whether on payment of a fee or otherwise; |
| “prescribed requirements” means the requirements, if any, that are prescribed by any provision of this Act or by the regulations and, where appropriate, includes such codes, standards and specifications as may be adopted by such regulations pursuant to section 73; |
“qualified person” means a person who —| (a) | is registered as a specialist professional engineer in the discipline of amusement ride engineering under the Professional Engineers Act (Cap. 253); and | | (b) | has in force a specialist practising certificate issued under that Act; |
|
| “regulations” means any regulations made under section 72; |
| “relocate”, in relation to an amusement ride, means to move the amusement ride, with or without disassembly, from its present location to another location for operation thereat; |
| “relocation works” means all works relating to the relocation of an amusement ride, including the disassembling and reassembling of the amusement ride for the purposes of such relocation; |
| “ride manager”, in relation to an amusement ride, means a person who is appointed under section 16 to oversee, manage and supervise the daily routine operation and maintenance of the amusement ride; |
“routine operation”, in relation to an amusement ride, means the carrying out of any task or activity that is necessary for putting the amusement ride to function, and includes —| (a) | the activation and exercise of mechanical control of the amusement ride; | | (b) | the driving or steering of any vehicle, boat or other conveyance that forms part of the amusement ride; | | (c) | the control of the number of patrons allowed on the amusement ride at any one time and the supervision of the boarding or alighting of such patrons; | | (d) | the giving of directions to patrons regarding their use of the amusement ride and the safety measures to be observed by them when using the amusement ride; and | | (e) | any other task or activity that is prescribed as being an aspect of the routine operation of the amusement ride for the purposes of this Act; |
|
| “structure”, in relation to an amusement ride, includes any tower, supporting frame, wheel, axle, arm, pendulum, drive system, launch mechanism, platform, flume, track or slide which forms part of the amusement ride. |
| (2) For the purposes of this Act, a device shall be regarded as being wholly or, where appropriate, partly driven by a particular kind of power if it is so driven by that kind of power at any stage of its operation or propulsion. |
(3) Where —| (a) | by or under any provision of this Act, any act or thing is required or directed to be done within a particular period or before a particular time; | | (b) | failure to do that act or thing within the period or before the time referred to in paragraph (a) constitutes an offence; and | | (c) | that act or thing is not done within the period or before the time referred to in paragraph (a), |
| the obligation to do that act or thing shall continue, notwithstanding that that period has expired or that time has passed, until that act or thing is done; and if the failure to do that act or thing within the period or before the time referred to in paragraph (a) is an offence, a person shall be guilty of a separate offence in respect of each day (including the day of a conviction for any such offence or any later day) or part thereof during which the person continues to refuse or fail to comply with that requirement or direction. |
|
|
| Appointment of Commissioner and enforcement officers |
3.—(1) The Minister may appoint any person to be the Commissioner of Amusement Rides Safety.| (2) The Commissioner shall, subject to any general or special directions of the Minister, have charge of the administration of this Act and may perform such duties as are imposed and may exercise such powers as are conferred upon him by this Act. |
(3) The Commissioner may appoint, by name or office, from among —| (a) | public officers; or | | (b) | persons in the employment of the Authority or such other public authority constituted by any written law as the Minister may approve for the purpose, |
| such number of enforcement officers as the Commissioner considers necessary for the purpose of assisting him in administering and enforcing this Act. |
|
| (4) Any powers conferred on and duties to be performed by the Commissioner under this Act may, subject to any general or special directions of the Commissioner, be exercised or performed by any enforcement officer appointed under subsection (3). |
| (5) Every enforcement officer appointed under subsection (3) shall be subject to the general supervision of the Commissioner. |
| (6) Every enforcement officer when exercising any powers under this Act shall, if not in uniform, declare his office and shall, on demand, produce to any person affected by the exercise of those powers such identification card as the Commissioner may direct to be carried by the enforcement officer when exercising such powers. |
| (7) It shall not be an offence for any person to refuse to comply with any requirement, demand or order made or given by any enforcement officer who fails to produce his identification card on demand being made by that person. |
|
| Commissioner and enforcement officers deemed to be public servants |
| 4. The Commissioner and every enforcement officer shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code (Cap. 224). |
|
