A report into a slide malfunction at Birch Bay Waterslides that seriously injured a man while going down the Hairpin slide last August cites multiple instances of incomplete or missing maintenance records. Despite promoting season ticket sales, Birch Bay Waterslides has not provided information needed before its operating permit could be reactivated. Whatcom County Health and Community Services (WCHCS) suspended the permit in September after the company failed to provide inspection reports requested by WCHCS.
The report noted that health investigators discovered missing and corroded fasteners where the slide failed and previously repaired damage immediately below the point of failure.
The incident raises questions regarding the oversight by state and local agencies given that state regulations only require water parks to submit maintenance and operation records when requested by county health departments.
Birch Bay Waterslides general manager Iain Buchanan said the company had just received the WCHCS investigative report, which was completed February 29, and needed to review it further before commenting. Buchanan said he had requested a meeting with WCHCS to discuss what he believed were inaccuracies in the report.
“We plan to continue working closely and collaboratively with the health department,” Buchanan wrote in an email to The Northern Light.
The injury incident
A 43-year-old man arrived the morning of Friday, August 25 to Birch Bay Waterslides, where about 500 other people were spending their day.
The man began sliding down the Hairpin, one of the park’s four main slides, around 12:52 p.m., according to a serious injury report WCHCS submitted to the Washington state Department of Health (DOH) Water Recreation Program.
While coming down the Hairpin slide, the man’s legs went through a splash guard on the fourth turn, passing through a 1.5-by-4 foot opening and causing significant lacerations and cuts to both legs. He continued down the slide, landing in the pool. His shouts alerted lifeguards to the accident who rushed to the man’s aid.
At 12:53 p.m., two lifeguards radioed “code red” at the pool and activated an emergency plan. A third lifeguard ran from the spa area and began providing first aid to the man, while Buchanan exited his office to assess the situation. Lifeguards stopped others from going down the park’s slides.
At 12:54 p.m., Buchanan called 911 and retrieved more supplies from the first aid hut. A bystander who said they were an ER nurse and the third lifeguard applied gauze and pressure to the man’s injuries.
The nurse applied tourniquets to both of the man’s legs, according to the injury report, and continued applying pressure to the victim’s wounds with the assistance of the lifeguard.
At 1:01 p.m., EMS responders arrived on scene. Seven minutes later, they left the facility, rushing the man to St. Joseph PeaceHealth Medical Center in Bellingham. He was transferred to intensive care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle later that day. The injury report shows the man underwent two surgeries while in the ICU by August 30 and required other procedures. Harborview spokesperson Susan Gregg declined to provide more information on the man’s care or the extent of his injuries but said he was discharged from Harborview on September 7.
Buchanan immediately closed the park and notified WCHCS of the incident, saying the park would close for the remainder of the season, which had been scheduled to last another week. Guests were refunded their entrance fees.
WCHCS noted the park provided first aid assistance within a sufficient amount of time, had required emergency equipment on-site and the water park was fully staffed with nine lifeguards.
The Northern Light confirmed the man’s identity, which has not been released. The man declined to comment and referred the newspaper to his personal injury attorney in Seattle. As of March 6, no lawsuit has been filed in Whatcom County Superior Court. The attorney did not respond to questions regarding the man’s injuries or subsequent recovery. Birch Bay Waterslides reported to WCHCS that, as of February 2, they had not had contact with the victim or any representative.
Code violations
Three WCHCS staff investigating the incident visited Birch Bay Waterslides on Tuesday, August 29 to photograph the broken slide, record information for the injury report, and discuss staff training, daily operations, maintenance and self-inspection.
The investigators cited the Birch Bay water park for: Failure to monitor and properly maintain recordkeeping, failure to provide documentation of emergency response training, and the existence of an imminent hazard caused by the splash guard that broke off during the incident. WCHCS made recommendations on how the water park could remediate the violations.
During the August 29 visit, the company was unable to immediately provide WCHCS with documents on inspections, repairs, lifeguard training and the facility emergency plan.
During the site visit, the investigators informed the company that WCHCS was suspending its operational permit for the park’s four main slides due to the health risks created by the slide’s failure, according to the report. Buchanan was told that the entire facility’s operating permit would be suspended if operation and maintenance records were not provided, according to the report.
Water park fails to quickly provide requested records to reinstate operating permit
WCHCS consequently suspended the operating permit September 1 after not receiving the maintenance and operation records. The company was also requested to supply records on emergency plan and lifeguard training by a later deadline, which it met.
WCHCS wrote in its report that it needed those maintenance and operation records to set conditions for restoring the operating permit. Tom Kunesh, environmental health supervisor for WCHCS who prepared the report, said in an interview that conditions for reestablishing the permit could be more stringent than just meeting codes, such as requiring the water park to submit inspection records annually.
On November 28, WCHCS staff met with Buchanan, maintenance supervisor Trevor Parson and operations supervisor Megan Hall because the county department had not received the maintenance and operation records it requested three months earlier.
At that meeting, WCHCS determined it needed more information on inspections than previously requested and asked Birch Bay Waterslides to provide documents including the water park designer’s original maintenance and operation specifications, inspection contractors’ credentials and scope of expertise, and copies of structural support inspections.
On February 2, WCHCS conducted another site visit where the department observed corroded and missing fasteners where the splash guard failed and at other locations on the slide. The damaged fasteners were more common on the slide’s windward side, where the splash guard failed.
WCHCS also found a loose splash guard panel just upstream of where the splash guard failed and a crack in the slide deck near the point of failure. Investigators also noted in their report a splash guard panel with previously repaired damage immediately downstream of the failed splash guard. The area around two bolts was ripped out and patched to provide material for a bolt attachment, according to the report.
“WCHCS staff are not structural engineers and cannot draw conclusions about the reason the splash guard panel failed, nor can staff draw conclusions based on visual inspections that occurred during the August 29, 2023, and February 2, 2024, site visits,” the report read.
WCHCS wrote that its findings indicated a qualified contractor needed to inspect the slide surfaces, support structures and hardware holding the slide together. The water park would need to perform and provide proof of recommended maintenance before the permit could be reinstated.
The report stated that the department had not received most of the information on mainteannce it needed before it could begin setting conditions for the permit.
“There’s a lot of steps that will happen between provision of this initially requested information and our readiness to reinstate their operating permit,” Kunesh said.
Waterslide engineering and inspection
The waterslides consist of slide deck panels and splash guard panels. The slide decks are on the lower half of the slide surface and are made to support the weight of guests through reinforced material, according to the report.
The splash guards are 1.5-by-8-foot non-reinforced panels bolted together and installed one to three panels high where the slide turns. Buchanan told WCHCS the park doesn’t have maximum weight or height restrictions for guests.
The company told WCHCS investigators that Kingworks Engineering annually assesses the structural integrity of the supports for each slide and has not assessed the structural integrity of the splash guards.
The company contracts Safe Slide Restoration Company to assess slide deck integrity. The company has also provided annual maintenance and repair on slide interiors, the company told investigators.
Both Kingworks Engineering and Safe Slide perform assessments before the season begins and create annual preseason reports, Birch Bay Waterslides told WCHCS during the November meeting. However, WCHCS said that Birch Bay Waterslides hasn’t provided all of the 2019-2023 preseason reports that had been requested.
Birch Bay Waterslides told WCHCS that it inspects each slide one to two times per week throughout the season to ensure there are no gaps or cracks in the panels, there are no leaks and the slides are smooth. The company doesn’t record routine inspections or minor repairs during the season.
The company told WCHCS that it didn’t note damage to the failed splash guard and guests didn’t report damage prior to the incident. The company also said they didn’t know why the splash guard failed and found no witnesses who saw the slide break.
County, state oversight of water parks
Washington has state regulations to enforce standards for water park maintenance and operations but doesn’t require water parks to submit those records to either the DOH or county health departments, the lead agencies tasked with water park oversight.
The DOH Water Recreation Program reviews water park design and construction but leaves annual inspections up to county health departments. County inspectors don’t include waterslide structural integrity or safety; the water parks are responsible for those inspections, which are typically done by third-party contractors.
“Water parks are rare in Washington state so it’s difficult to build up a high level of competency for that very specific kind of aquatic venue just because of their rarity,” said Dave DeLong, program manager of the DOH Water Recreation Program.
While not required by law, county health departments can request copies of maintenance and operation documents from the water park if necessary.
When asked the last time WCHCS requested inspection records on the slides at Birch Bay Waterslides, WCHCS spokesperson Marie Duckworth wrote that WCHCS required the company comply with a 2016 Whatcom County Planning and Department Services inspection before opening for the 2017 season. Duckworth added that WCHCS requested inspection records to ensure that the issues found during the inspection were corrected. Details of that inspection were not immediately available by press time.
“If the jurisdiction who has authority for inspection is not requesting those kinds of documents, then there isn’t any check that those inspections are actually being done,” DeLong said. “But the requirement for doing those inspections is in the regulations and the onus for doing those inspections is on the owner.”
In 2023, the state DOH received two serious injury reports at different water parks. DeLong said he believes the number of serious injury reports the DOH receives for water recreation facilities, whether it’s a water park or pool, are likely underreported.
The state enacted water park regulations in 1989, after Birch Bay Waterslides opened, DeLong said. The Birch Bay water park’s construction would have been grandfathered in, but the water park still needs to meet the state’s operational requirements, he said.
When asked whether WCHCS believed there was sufficient oversight on structural safety of waterslides in Whatcom County, Duckworth responded, “Water recreation code requires operators to ensure safety, including maintenance and safety inspections. The fact that this incident occurred clearly points to a safety issue.”
Duckworth continued, “Knowing this, we would require additional inspections and assurances from third-party experts that any recommended safety work was performed before we reinstate their permit. However, the operator has not yet provided enough information for staff to determine what kind of work is needed.”
Clarification: The first paragraph of this article previously stated Birch Bay Waterslides' operating permit was revoked with context that it could be reinstated. On March 8, the word "revoked" was changed to "suspended."
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