Adventureland fined $4,500 in worker's death
Kevin Hardy and Joel Aschbrenner, jaschbrenn@dmreg.com 5:57 p.m. CDT August 29, 2016
Man dies while working at Adventureland
Steve Booher, 68, of Oklahoma, died Saturday after he fell while tending the Raging River ride at Adventureland. OSHA is investigating the incident. Videolicious
(Photo: Special to the Register)
Federal regulators allege that Adventureland park broke Iowa law by failing to create a safe work environment for the 68-year-old man who died from injuries he sustained while working on the Raging River ride in June.
Iowa's Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the theme park $4,500 this month in the death of Steve Booher. The Altoona amusement park has 15 days to contest the agency's findings.
One of Booher's family members said the fine "seems a little light."
"We're talking about the loss of life," said Tim Overlin, Booher's nephew who lives in Des Moines.
The Raging River sends riders through rapids on large circular rafts. Booher was working at the ride June 7, helping riders get out of the rafts when the conveyor belt carrying the rafts began to move forward.
The movement caused him to fall from the loading platform onto the conveyor belt.
Booher injured his head and arms and was on life support at a Des Moines hospital for several days. He died June 11.
Jens Nissen, Iowa OSHA administrator, said the $4,500 fine was the maximum his agency could assess Adventureland for this type of violation. OSHA found no evidence that the theme park willfully violated worker safety protocols, which would have prompted a larger fine.
The ride is operated by a worker in a control tower above the platform. The disconnect between the operator and the workers below is the primary issue inspectors identified.
Iowa OSHA found that Adventureland should implement engineering controls that would prevent the conveyor belt from moving rafts while workers are still loading and unloading passengers.
That could include interlocked sensor devices or interlocked buttons "to ensure that ride assistants are positioned in a safe location before the boats are allowed to be advanced by the ride operator," according to the agency's citation.
Molly Vincent, a spokesperson for Adventureland, declined to answer any questions about the OSHA fine or the changes recommended by the agency.
Overlin said the ride should have automatic controls that stop it if a worker is in the path of the rafts. He also questioned the amusement park's training requirements.
Booher had worked at Adventureland for six days. He and his wife were retirees from Oklahoma who planned to spend the summer living in their RV and working at the park.
The day he fell was the first he had worked on the Raging River ride.
The Raging River reopened the day after Booher's incident.
A search of OSHA's federal database found no previous violations for Adventureland. Nationwide, 10 workers were killed on the job at amusement parks between 2011 and 2014, the most recent years for which OSHA fatality data is available.
Amusement park rides, including the Raging River, are inspected annually by the Iowa Division of Labor. The Raging River was inspected on April 28 and then again on June 8, following Booher's fall.
Both inspections determined that the ride was operating as designed, said James Bowry, manager of the division's elevator, boiler and amusement ride bureau.
The ride will be inspected again after the park implements changes recommended by OSHA, he said. It is operating currently, the division said.
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Adventureland worker who died just 6 days on the job
Kevin Hardy, kmhardy@dmreg.com 8:43 a.m. CDT June 14, 2016
Man dies while working at Adventureland
Steve Booher, 68, of Oklahoma, died Saturday after he fell while tending the Raging River ride at Adventureland. OSHA is investigating the incident. Videolicious
(Photo: Special to the Register)
Steve Booher and his wife, Gladys, were enjoying retirement, traveling the country in their RV and visiting family and friends along the way.
Recently, the Oklahoma couple came to central Iowa, where the 68-year-old retired postal carrier took a summer job at Adventureland in Altoona.
"Steve was having a great time (at Adventureland)," Gladys Booher wrote on Facebook. "He loved watching the kids enjoying the rides."
Then, on his sixth day on the job, tragedy struck, said his nephew Tim Overlin, of Des Moines.
Steve Booher was tending the amusement park's Raging River ride when he fell on the conveyor belt June 7, fracturing his skull and suffering a major brain injury, his wife wrote. He was unresponsive and on life support until he died Saturday at Mercy Medical Center.
Polk County Medical Examiner Gregory Schmunk confirmed the accidental death was caused by a head injury.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is now investigating the incident.
Overlin said the family's only knowledge of the accident stems from the limited amount of information in local media reports.
"It's just a lot of grief and shock," he said.
Witness recounts events
Zach Bauer was waiting in line to ride the Raging River on the afternoon of June 7 when he heard a commotion on the loading platform.
He didn't see Booher fall, turning toward the scene as onlookers flocked to provide help.
At the time, the conveyor belt moving the rafts was in motion, said Bauer, a 22-year-old who lives in Des Moines. Several onlookers were yelling at the ride operator to stop the ride, he said.
"I know it wasn’t just a case of him slipping and falling without the ride moving," he said. "I saw the ride take the man off his feet."
The Raging River's ride operator is housed in a booth above the loading platform. On the platform, other workers help riders in and out of the boats. Bauer said the ride operator came down from the booth and appeared confused, because he left the ride running.
Bauer has ridden the Raging River countless times; he held Adventureland season passes for several years. He said the workers on the platform generally give the go-ahead for the Raging River to begin.
"Usually when everybody was ready to go, they would give the guy the thumbs up, because he’s up above the ride," he said. "I'm not sure what caused him to push the button."
"Anybody who’s been on that ride knows that once that conveyor belt starts, it's kind of a jerk. It starts really quick."
Adventureland spokeswoman Molly Vincent did not respond to questions regarding Bauer's account of the incident. She previously acknowledged the ride was in motion at the time of the accident.
Inspection cleared ride to continue
One day after Booher's fatal fall, state officials inspected the water ride and deemed it safe and free of defects.
"We did our inspection and we found no adverse conditions as far as the ride was concerned," said Jim Borwey, who oversees inspections of elevators, boilers and amusement parks for the Iowa Division of Labor.
State officials examine each amusement park ride before the beginning of the season, Borwey said. This spring, investigators found no major problems with the Raging River, which Adventureland classifies among its family rides.
Jens Nissen, administrator of Iowa's OSHA program, said he could not release any details of his agency's ongoing investigation into the accident.
The agency must report its findings within six months, he said, though he expects a quicker conclusion.
Altoona Police did not immediately respond to the accident, but are now investigating the case, said Sgt. David Tinker. Investigators do not believe there was any criminal act involved but are piecing together what happened.
"We’re still looking into it, seeing if some other medical issue would have caused this, caused him to fall," Tinker said. "We’re not sure."
A family man
Overlin described his uncle as a family man. Both he and his wife had previously been pastors.
"He was really low key but always positive and always happy," he said. "He was just so in love with my aunt. He would do anything for her."
A Des Moines funeral home cremated Booher's remains.
His funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at the First Church of God in Pryor, Okla.