Been lurking on here for a few years now, but just signed up for my first post. I'm taking the family for 3 nights to Splash Landings in a few weeks time, so have been watching the events with great interest.
I have to declare I have some experience with accident investigations and dealing with the HSE. First of all I have no direct knowledge of this investigation, but I do know how these things work, as I have a Safety Engineering background.
Almost certainly the HSE will have placed a Prohibition Notice on the operation of the Smiler rollercoaster. It wouldn't surprise me if the notice also extended to all the coasters in the park. If the accident looks like it is attributable to human error - which from what I have read looks increasingly likely - then that calls into question the whole issue of procedures and competence to run all the coasters, not just Smiler. That can't be fixed overnight - so it didn't surprise me that the park was closed again today to reassess procedures and determine if there is any staff training required.
The HSE are unlikely to have issued a Prohibition Notice against the whole park - they just wouldn't have the evidence to say the procedures and training for operating other, lower risk, attractions would be inadequate.However, without the coasters, there isn't much point opening the rest of the park.
What I found interesting is that the coasters at Chessington also weren't operating - so I just wonder if any Prohibition Notice that might have been issued would also extend to all coasters operated by Merlin - were the coasters at Legoland operating today? Or alternatively, it might just be Merlin being cautious and checking all of their procedures across all parks.
If the accident WAS human error, then it still doesn't mean the coaster can be back up and running quickly. There are ways of designing against human error using inherent safety principles - for example through the use of interlocks etc - so there will probably be hardware, as well as procedural, changes required by the HSE - probably via an improvement notice. Improvement notices have a minimum of a 28 day compliance period, so Smiler would be unlikely to start up again quicker than that.
The HSE will also need to finish their investigation. Normally they would take into possession failed equipment, but in this case that would be a bit difficult. It wouldn't surprise me if they took into possession the 2 cars that collided, which would then be taken to the Health and Safety Laboratory for storage. The rest of the evidence they would gather 'in-situ'. That shouldn't take too long (should be finished within weeks), at which point they would release the coaster, which could then be used again as soon as AT have complied with the requirements of any Improvement Notice. The HSE would keep the 2 damaged cars until any potential prosecution is finished (which can take years sometimes). So even if Smiler did restart, they wouldn't have many cars available (unless AT bought some new ones).
I have my own views on what caused the accident, but will keep them to myself - litigation and free speech on the internet shouldn't mix, but they do unfortunately!
However, if this was due to human error, it might be worth thinking about the poor s*d who might have made that error - they will be feeling desperate at this moment in time, but from my experience of accident investigation they shouldn't be too hard on themself. Human error failings are more usually to do with management system failings or lack of inherent safety in the design to prevent human error, than the failure of the individual themself.
