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SCMP Reporter

Spate of serious injuries sparks look at licensing conditions

Safety at ice-skating rinks is coming under a government review following a spate of serious injuries.

A Leisure and Cultural Services Department  spokesman said 'the department is now studying whether safety requirements for  skaters should be added as one of the licensing conditions'  for ice-skating venue operators.

At least three ice skaters were seriously injured last month.

The most severe injury involved a five-year-old girl, whose finger was sliced off by a skate blade after she fell on the rink at the Cityplaza Ice Palace  in Taikoo Shing.

Her finger was reattached in an operation at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital.

'We have enhanced  safety measures, such as encouraging skaters to wear helmets and gloves,  since this accident, but we can't  force people to follow them,' a spokeswoman  for the  Cityplaza rink said.

She said there had been 59 injuries reported at the rink  that involved people being taken to accident and emergency departments this year. Nine required a hospital stay.

The Ice Palace is one of five public rinks with a Places of Amusement licence under the supervision of the  Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

'Safety should be the top priority for considering issuance or renewal of a licence, not just checking the application form and receiving the licence fee,' skater Stanley Lam Ping-cheung said.

He broke his hand when he  skated for the first time at the Cityplaza  rink in 1992.

Mr Lam criticised the 'poor' monitoring of ice rinks and argued that the department should have a 'duty of care' to the public to monitor the operations of ice rinks.

Under the  Places of Amusement regulations, a licence will be issued if the premises comply with  fire and structural safety  rules.

Safety requirements for users of the premises were not considered, the department spokesman said.

However, the department had asked the operators of public skating rinks 'to be alert' to the safety of  skaters, he said.

James Joseph Lam, president of the Hong Kong Association of Sports Medicine and Sports Science,  said  skaters' safety was a grave concern.

'Many venues are very crowded during holidays, during which both skilled and unskilled skaters mix together,' he said.

Skating rinks also tended to be surrounded by barriers and walls. Most accidents were related to  skating too fast and falling, he  said.

More than 20 severe injuries from ice skating at the  Cityplaza rink were  treated by Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital's Orthopaedics and Traumatology  department  each year.

'This number excludes  minor injuries or head injuries treated  at accident and emergency or other departments,'  Dr Lam said.

He said there  were regular admission to the department for skating injuries, especially at weekends or on  holidays.

Ankle and lower leg injuries  were by far the most common skating injuries.  Most of  them  involved people who were  between 11 and 20.

'Although there are few skating venues in Hong Kong, and the  number of  skating injuries  is   lower than  in other popular sports,  safety concerns should not be neglected,' Dr Lam said.

Cold, hard facts

Common health problems related to recreational ice skating

Joint injuries

Wrist, elbow and shoulder injuries caused by falls

Back and coccyx pain

Caused by falls

Tendinitis

Overly supportive skates rub against tendons in ankle and foot

Cold

Cool, dry air can trigger exercise-induced asthma



Safety at ice-skating rinks reviewed after accidents