1 in 3 amusement parks did not know of safety standards

One third of major amusement parks in Japan were not aware of government-set standards for safety checks on their facilities, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday. The results, released as park operators are under scrutiny nationwide following a fatal roller-coaster accident in Osaka Prefecture earlier this month, show many of them lack the proper knowledge about inspection norms under the Japanese Industrial Standards.

A total of 51 major amusement parks with roller coasters in 29 prefectures responded to the survey conducted after the May 6 accident at the Expoland park in Suita, Osaka, that killed a woman and injured about 20 other people. The operator of the park has admitted that it did not conduct a necessary checkup for 15 months. The survey showed 17 of the 51 amusement parks did not know even of the existence of the JIS norms. Many of them said they had not been notified or that they had depended on maintenance companies for checkups.