WorkSafe has issued a prohibition notice preventing the use of the Ferris wheel involved in the serious incident at the Rolling Meadows festival in Christchurch.

As first reported by chrislynchmedia.com, two men were seriously injured after falling from a Ferris wheel at the Bottle Lake venue on Thursday morning.

Yesterday, Event Hire Director Phil Anderson told chrislynchmedia.com the operator observed the men swinging the bucket they were sitting in and immediately told them to stop as it was against the safety rules and dangerous.

“As the operator began the process of stopping the ride and safely unloading all occupants, the bucket which the men had made swing tipped and they fell out,” Anderson said.

On Friday morning, WorkSafe released a statement saying, “WorkSafe has now issued a prohibition notice, which prevents use of the Ferris wheel until we are satisfied an engineering expert has fully investigated and reported back to the device owner, Event Hire.

“The notice also requires a copy of the engineer’s report to be provided to WorkSafe.”

Event Hire has also engaged an independent engineer to undertake a full technical review of the equipment.