Trampoline Parks National Safety Standard Introduced
Photograph of FREEDOME
Trampoline parks are banned in the Chopsy family. One visit to Freedog in Bristol, was all it took to be horrified at the awful health and safety and an inevitable trip to A&E. During that visit, I promised the doctor faithfully that I would never go to a trampoline park again.
Despite my own stringent parental supervision at the venue – instead of wandering off to the advertised mezzanine overlooking the main arena – it was impossible to police other people’s impulsive youngsters jumping into giant foam pits on top of each other, which could potentially result in serious injury. A member of staff stood by watching without intervening at all.
Then ridiculously, my least accident prone child badly sprained an ankle tripping over a piece of safety equipment. Never again, I promised the doctor examining the X-Rays at Bristol Children’s Hospital, and it was a promise I have kept. At the time, I considered us lucky to have escaped with a sprained ankle watching the scant supervision and general free-for-all of children jumping into the unknown.
Now, the International Association of Trampoline Parks (IATP) has announced a national standard specification, offering guidance for constructing an indoor trampoline park, as well as its day to day operation.
Quite rightly, one of their concerns about the unregulated industry is also the foam pits. IATP members have been working with the Royal Society of Protection of Accidents, British Gymnastics, Environmental Health Officers and Health and Safety Executive, Constructors and Operators. From this, a set of voluntary standards to help minimise the risk of users were created.
MD of FREEDOME, Peter Brown, a founding member of the UK subcommittee of the International Association of Trampoline Parks (IATP) says: “Demand for trampoline parks has grown exponentially in a very short space of time, with trampoline park openings increasing by 3000 per cent since 2014. However, the safety standards had not caught up with this demand. I am very pleased that we have managed to get the BSI PAS 5000 out so quickly, creating something that will form the backbone of standards across the UK.
“As of August, a park will need to comply to the BSI standards to join the IATP. Therefore, they are advising people to look for the IATP sticker on the door of any trampoline park that they are considering entering.”
The IATP recommends customers visiting a park look for the following at the venue:
• A risk acknowledgement and disclaimer
• Safety briefings from staff
• 1:20 jumpers per court monitor
• All activities must be staffed
• Is the area where you get on and off the trampolines soft under foot?
• Are the staff engaged in the activity of looking out for safety concerns?
• Is the park clean and well maintained?
• Is the park well lit?
• Are there any jumps over 6ft high into foam pits or Air Bags?
We recommend that visitors to these parks not only look for these safety measures, but staff apathy and child control. A trampoline park may have all the necessary safety equipment and procedures, but without being supervised by park staff adequately, then they will count for nothing when children are jumping on top of each other into foam pits.