Loop 034 printable

Volume 2, No. 10. June 14, 2002

Achieving a standard
After a decade of debate and dissension, ASTM standards for waterparks are now steadily moving toward realization. The first fruition of the F24 committee’s work in this area will likely emerge by the end of this summer.

“We anticipate we’ll have a letter ballot late this summer prior to the fall meeting,” said Steve Hix, director of the International Recreational Go-kart Association and chairman of the F24.60 subcommittee. He called the letter ballot “a feeler to see who’s got negatives before we go to a formal ballot.”

The subcommittee already has endured its share of negatives, especially in the waterpark arena. Three separate task groups are tackling the issues in that sector: one on waterslides, one on water quality and one on interactive water-related attractions. The last has had to navigate a political minefield thanks to one faction of ASTM (the American Society for Testing Materials) that tried to move interactive water elements into the purview of F15, the committee overseeing consumer products used in or around the home. ASTM’s executive committee finally assigned the devices to F24, the committee for amusement rides and devices.

The individual task groups also were weighed down for a time by excessive participants and internal squabbling, which led to some restructuring. “In accordance with ASTM bylaws and the recommendations for structure of task groups, no more than seven people are now sitting at the table,” Hix said. “The task group level is to get the initiative going. They don’t have to solve every issue; they can put conflicting recommendations on the ballot, and those issues are resolved at the subcommittee level.”

Getting that initiative going has been the industry’s biggest need. “There’s an awareness we need to move this thing forward before we’re gobbled up by European standards,” Hix said. Or U.S. government intrusion, which Hix believes would have occurred if the interactive devices had ended up under F15’s scope.

ASTM will not release the proposed standards until it has been passed by the whole committee. Only members of the committee will have access to any of the pre-vote documents, Hix said. Nevertheless, the committee's membership and the work of the task groups “is the best way for people in the industry to have input in a fair and consensus manner,” he said. “The people we’ve got heading these task groups are exceptionally knowledgeable in their specific fields.”

Rick Briggs of SCS Interactive is task group leader for interactive waterplay, Alan Heuss of Whitewater West leads the waterslide task group and John Garris of MS Biolab Inc. is heading the water quality group. Other ASTM F24.60 task groups working on standards for the fall meeting are indoor karts, led by Pat Hoffman, Six Flags vice president of loss control; inflatables, chaired by June Hardin of Wapallo Manufacturing; and trains, directed by C.W. Craven of Doppelmayr CTEC.