ISO/TS 17929:2014

TECHNICAL ISO/TS
SPECIFICATION 17929
First edition
2014-09-15
Biomechanical effects on amusement
ride passengers
Effets biomécaniques sur les passagers des manèges
Reference number
©
ISO 2014
© ISO 2014
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ii © ISO 2014 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Degrees of potential biomechanical risks for amusement rides . 3
5 Measures for elimination or reduction of hazards due to biomechanical effects .5
6 Effects of accelerations on passengers . 7
7 Zones of potential biomechanical risk in the reach envelope of passengers for motion risk
analysis and unscheduled braking risk analysis . 7
Annex A (informative) Body dimensions of passengers from 1,20 m up to 2,0 m tall for motion risk
analysis and unexpected braking risk analysis . 8
Annex B (informative) Recommended acceleration limits .13
Annex C (informative) Hazard of passengers being held in an upside-down position
in emergency .20
Annex D (informative) Use of amusement rides considering the state of health or well-being of
passengers — Warning signs to advise passengers .21
Bibliography .23
Foreword
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to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/TC 254, Safety of amusement rides and amusement
devices.
iv © ISO 2014 – All rights reserved

Introduction
Most passenger-carrying devices, e.g. vehicles, transport systems, elevators, cableways, and other
similar structures, are deliberately designed to minimize biomechanical effects on passengers.
Amusement rides are different in that the biomechanical effects are deliberately introduced in order to
amuse people through stimulation of their sensory system.
Thus, in addition to mechanical, electrical and other hazards, amusement rides could feature significant
biomechanical hazards for passengers. Passengers being moved by amusement rides are subject to
inertia forces. The magnitude, direction, duration of exposure to, and rate of change of, these forces
could create risks that need to be minimized. The risks may be increased by the use of entertaining
effects.
Design of the amusement ride in accordance with this Technical Specification, together with ISO 17842,
minimizes any risks from these biomechanical effects.
When it is important for safety reasons, passenger weight, height, and age also need to be considered.
Moreover, amusement ride passengers can have different states of health or well-being during a ride
cycle and there is a probability of injury not due to any amusement ride defect but owing to the individual
health state of a passenger. When a designer, manufacturer or operator provides a warning before the
ride entrance for guests, making them aware of ride use restrictions considering their state of health
(see Annex D), this can limit legal liability for possible harm to passengers in poor health.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION ISO/TS 17929:2014(E)
Biomechanical effects on amusement ride passengers
1 Scope
This Technical Specification has been drawn up with the objective of ensuring the safety of amusement
ride passengers, based on the international experience of manufacture and operation of such structures
throughout the world gained over decades prior to its publication.
It enables the identification of potential hazards and classification of biomechanical effects, including
information on recommended acceleration limits, rate of their onset and their duration, to ensure
acceptable degrees of biomechanical risks at the stage of amusement ride design, as well as to take such
risks into account during development of operational procedures and information on use limitations for
amusement ride guests.
It gives recommendations regarding use limitations for amusement rides in accordance with the health
condition and the well-being of passengers. It also specifies body dimensions of passengers 1,20 m to
2,0 m in height for motion risk analysis on amusement rides. These body dimensions can be taken into
account when designing passenger containments and restraints.
It does not cover devices used in the circus, theatre or sports, or other devices intended for use only by
specially trained people. Nevertheless, it can be used in the design of any similar structural or passenger-
carrying device even if it does not explicitly mention the device.
This Technical Specification is not applicable to amusement rides put into operation before the date of
its publication.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are
indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
1)
ISO 17842 (all parts)— , Safety of amusement rides and amusement devices
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
amusement ride
equipment that is designed to entertain the passengers during motion, including biomechanical effects
3.2
biomechanical effects
effects of forces on passengers of amusement rides associated with their motion
3.3
degree of potential biomechanical risk
likelihood of causing harm as a result of biomechanical effects of different values considering the
possible severity of consequences
1) To be published.
3.4
entertaining effect
psycho-emotional effect
action on the human sense organs associated with the use of visual effects, illumination, darkness, fire,
water, wind, sounds, smells, etc. with the purpose of entertaining people
3.5
fence
structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary
3.6
high potential biomechanical risk degree
RB-1
potential of causing fatal harm to a passenger or passengers resulting from biomechanical effects
3.7
low potential biomechanical risk degree
RB-3
potential of causing harm with temporary disability of a passenger or passengers resulting from
biomechanical effects.
3.8
medium potential biomechanical risk degree
RB-2
potential of causing severe harm to health of a passenger or passengers resulting from biomechanical
effects
3.9
motion risk envelope
zones around the bodies of passengers carried by the amusement ride within the reach envelopes in
which, if it is intruded by any structures or foreign obstacles, the passengers may be exposed to harm of
varying degrees of severity
3.10
negligible potential biomechanical risk degree
RB-4
potential of causing harm without any form of disability to a passenger or passengers resulting from
biomechanical effects
3.11
passenger containment
components (e.g. seating, foot wells, handrails, and passenger restraints) designed to prevent passengers
from moving outside a predetermined area on a ride either as a result of biomechanical effects or the
ride forces or the behaviour of the passenger
3.12
rate of onset of acceleration
value that characterizes the rate of acceleration growth during the given time interval (third derivative
of movement in time)
3.13
restraint
system, device, or characteristic that is intended to inhibit or restrict the body movement and/or keep
the body position to tolerate accelerations of the passenger(s) while on the amusement ride
3.14
use limitation
limitation for passengers with health deviations including but not limited to reasons related to their age,
height or weight as well as for guests who are not feeling well to use an amusement ride safely
2 © ISO 2014 – All rights reserved

4 Degrees of potential biomechanical risks for amusement rides
When people are being moved by an amusement ride, the respective potential risks of harm may be
present depending on the potential fall height, values of velocity and accelerations, angle of the seat
inclination or turnover. Therefore, measures to reduce or eliminate risks shall be taken with regard
to the types and degrees of biomechanical effects acting on passengers. In order to analyse the risks
and possible consequences of failures, it is important to take into account how people are exposed to
biomechanical effects and the frequency of such exposure.
Biomechanical effects produced by amusement rides are not always suitable for people with health
problems or who are simply not feeling well at the time, and therefore it is necessary to warn people of
how extreme the amusement ride may be and of any use limitations.
Types of injuries depending on the severity of harm to the human body can include but are not limited to
a) traumatic brain injury (TBI),
b) vascular injury due to turning upside down,
c) cardiac arrhythmia due to stress and/or accelerations action,
d) severe injury of internal organs due to impact,
e) injury of a musculoskeletal system when exposed to high accelerations, and
f) loss of consciousness due to accelerations.
If the safety measures taken are not adequate, any biomechanical effects of an RB-1 value may cause
catastrophic harm to health or life of people, those effects may, for example, include falling from
the height of over 8 m; being hit against an obstacle at a speed of higher than 20 m/s; ejection of an
unrestrained passenger out of a passenger unit; falling of an unrestrained passenger headlong out of a
turned over passenger unit or seat from the height of more than 3 m.
Similarly, any biomechanical effects of an RB-2 value may cause critical harm to health, including a
severe injury or disability, and any biomechanical effects of an RB-3 value may cause harm to health such
as temporary disorder. It should be noted that, if safety measures are insufficient and any unfavourable
events or situations occur, increased biomechanical effects may result in high risk which will require
risk analysis.
Identification of types and values of effects and degree of potential biomechanical risks shall be
performed using Table 1. Figures 1 a), 1 b), and 1 c) illustrate inclination types of passenger seats.
Table 1 — Types and values of effects to which passengers are exposed and degrees of potential
biomechanical risks
Degree of potential biomechanical risk
Type of
Notation
biomechanical effect
RB-1 RB-2 RB-3 RB-4
Lift to or drop from a relative H, m H > 8 2 < H ≤ 8 0,4 < H ≤ 2 H ≤ 0,4
a
height
Travel at a relative velocity V, m/s V > 20 10 < V ≤ 20 3 < V ≤ 10 V ≤ 3
Lift or drop in seat with incli- H, m H ≥ 3 2 < H ≤ 3 0,4 < H ≤ 2 H < 0,4
nation:
— forward inclination α, degrees 135 < α ≤ 180 45 < α ≤ 135 10 < α ≤ 45
[Figure 1 a)]
— backward inclination β, degrees 135 < β ≤ 180 105 < β ≤ 135 95 < β ≤ 105
[Figure 1 b)]
— sideward inclination γ, degrees 120 ≤ γ ≤ 180 60 ≤ γ ≤ 120 30 < γ ≤ 60
[Figure 1 c)]
a
The degrees of biomechanical risks are based on the statistics regarding consequences of injuries to people when falling
from height.
a) Forward inclination
b) Backward inclination
4 © ISO 2014 – All rights reserved

c) Sideward inclination
Figure 1 — Degrees of potential biomechanical risks depending on height and/or inclination for
a seated unrestrained passenger
5 Measures for elimination or reduction of hazards due to biomechanical effects
Biomechanical risk analysis and risk classification for amusement rides concentrate the attention of
those who make and maintain amusement rides on the elements and parameters most important for the
safety of amusement rides.
Biomechanical risks arising from the types of effects listed below shall be eliminated or reduced by
means of the following basic methods, in accordance with ISO 17842-1, and the necessity for redundancy
depends on the risk analysis:
— when passengers are at a height of more than 2 m, reliable load-carrying structures and fences with
due allowance for wind effects shall be provided as well as appropriate lifts and hoists;
— when passengers are being moved at a high speed (more than 3 m/s), appropriate containment
devices shall be provided to prevent falling or potential ejection of passengers taking into account
effects of inertia — measures shall be taken to remove obstacles that may cause harm getting into
the relevant motion envelopes of passengers;
— when passengers are moved with high accelerations comparable with allowable limits for each axis,
the passenger’s body shall be secured with a restraint in order to ensure that accelerations are
safely tolerated and to eliminate risk of passenger ejection due to acceleration (including under
normal and emergency braking);
— when seats or passenger units are turned over and there is a probability of passengers falling out,
appropriate passenger containment shall be provided.
Passenger containment may include restraints as part of the containment system. Figure 2 provides an
example of the geometry of the contact of a lap-bar type restraint with a passenger.
Key
(1) thigh clearance (the highest point of the thigh above the sitting surface) (measurement 27, Reference [8])
(2) body depth, sitting – a horizontal distance between the seat back and anterior protrusion of the body
(measurement 36, Reference [8])
(3) thigh clearance for an anthropometric model of 1200 mm in height (scaling down of measurement 27 given in
Reference [8])
(4) horizontal distance between the seat back and anterior protrusion of the body for an anthropometric model
of 1200 mm in height (scaling down of measurement 36 given in Reference [8])
Figure 2 — Example of the size and position of a restraint bar to hold passengers when turning
upside down in emergency
A complete passenger containment system shall be designed and verified by ergonomic testing.
To accommodate a passenger in an upside down position, other passenger containment systems may be
designed.
These provisions are applicable for passengers of 1,20 m to 2,0 m in height.
To take necessary design and organizational safety measures for minimising risks originated from
amusement rides, the experience of the designers, manufacturers, and operators shall be in conformity
with the complexity of an amusement ride and with the degree of its biomechanical hazard.
Elimination or reduction of high degree biomechanical risks shall be provided using the following safety
measures:
— designing amusement rides in accordance with the ISO 17842-1 standard requirements;
6 © ISO 2014 – All rights reserved

— using seats and restraint systems ensuring the permanence of the passenger’s position; safety of
the position is confirmed by mathematic simulation of accelerations acting on the passenger;
— limiting accelerations acting on the passenger with parameters specified in this Technical
Specification;
— advising passengers of possible harm while using the amusement ride depending on their state of
health. Warnings shall be clear and legible and shall be displayed at the entrance of an amusement
ride as well as duplicated at the loading platform.
The safety measures taken at the design stage shall be continuously maintained and verified at all the
relevant stages of the ride manufacture and operation.
6 Effects of accelerations on passengers
When designing amusement rides where passengers are exposed to accelerations, it is necessary to take
into consideration possible unfavourable effects of accelerations on the human body.
The manifestations of such effects are described in Annex B.
Annex B also contains consolidated diagrams of recommended limit accelerations for different directions
of their actions.
7 Zones of potential biomechanical risk in the reach envelope of passengers for
motion risk analysis and unscheduled braking risk analysis
The risk of injury for passengers during riding results from potential intrusion of obstacles into the
relevant zone around the passenger. Sizes of the zones taking into account the severity of injuries
dep
...