Hamburg, N.Y. (WBEN) - The 185th annual Erie County Fair begins Wednesday at the Hamburg Fairgrounds, as several Western New Yorkers from far-and-wide are set to walk through the gates through Sunday, Aug. 17.
However, a recent ride malfunction at the Cattaraugus County Fair this past week has brought to focus the safety of rides at this year's Erie County Fair. While no one was injured as a result of that incident in Little Valley, it left some people stuck 15 feet in the air for quite some time.
Marty Biniasz with Strates Shows says safety remains their top priority when it comes to the rides at the Erie County Fair.
"What we're doing now leading up to the fair is really a three-level approach to safety," said Biniasz in an interview with WBEN. "What we have is we have our own safety engineers that are certified, that are going through. These are people that are intimate with the rides."
The three-level approach begins with their own engineers examining the rides before being looked over by the Department of Labor. The last part of the process goes through a third party that is not connected with Strates Shows or New York State to ensure that safety measures are properly met.
"Every ride is unique in their own way, when it comes to inspections. So each ride is inspected thoroughly, again, by that three levels, the state, by our engineers, and by that third party inspector that comes in," Biniasz explained. "With those three levels and going through each ride, each one's unique. So they're going back, they're looking at the manufacturer's specifications to make sure those tolerances, or those safety devices that were originally installed are still operational and still doing their job."