YORK, Pa. — Some community members are concerned about ride safety at the York State Fair.
This was after a man shared on Facebook some pictures he took at the Fair and claimed the pictures show outdated inspection stickers on some of the rides.
Some people in the community had concerns about whether or not it’s safe to get on the rides. But officials with the York State Fair say rides are safe.
“They’re actually pictures of the inspection stickers from the state of Florida, when the Strates shows were set up in Florida back in April. Since then, they’ve left the state of Florida and they’ve been inspected in every state they’ve been in, including here," said Bryan Blair, the CEO of the York State Fair.
Strates show, the company that runs the amusement rides at the fair, has a third party inspector on site that goes through every ride, everyday.
“They have checklist for every ride before they open, and the operator of that ride goes through that checklist, and checks all the things like, latches and safety equipment, and pins and all of the different things," said Blair. "If there is any irregularity at all, they either close the ride or they repair or replace the part that needs to be replaced, every single day," he said.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture also did its own inspection. The department requires traveling rides to be registered in Pennsylvania and inspected by a trained, certified inspector before they open in a new location, and re-inspected at least every 30 days.
“The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture was here before we opened and they looked over all 49 rides, did complete inspection, everything was cleared to operate by the ride inspectors who were certified on various different levels," said Blair.
Each ride has a small silver 2022 sticker showing they were inspected by PA agriculture department workers. Anyone at the fair can ask the ride operator to show them the inspection records and contact the department if the operator does not cooperate.