Soft Play Guidelines  

Over the last few years there has been a considerable increase in indoor “soft play” areas. At the same time the scope of activities in these areas has increased and more adventurous items are constantly being introduced. The following guidelines are meant to help both established site operators and also those seeking to establish a new venture.

BS 8409

At present indoor areas are covered by BS 8409:2002 “Soft indoor play areas – Code of practice”. A European Standard will supersede this within a couple of years. This will largely be based on BS 8409. Neither Standard will be mandatory. Compliance with the standard(s) therefore is not a legal obligation; however failure to comply with BS 8409 will considerably weaken your position in the event of litigation.

Inspections

A well-documented inspection regime is essential and may be a condition of your insurance.

The following inspections are recommended to be undertaken: -

• New Facilities
  • A Post Installation Inspection by a competent person is advised for all new indoor play facilities to determine safety and standard compliance.
• Daily
  • Pre-opening: Inspection to look for signs of damage, vandalism etc.
  • In busy times more than one such inspection may be necessary. Also new units tend to get very heavy initial usage and extra checks are recommended.
• Weekly
  • A more detailed inspection to check security of all items
• Annual
  • An Independent Annual Inspection checking for all safety issues.
  • These are sometimes referred to as Safety Audits providing advice on management procedures during the inspection. (For areas subjected to heavy use more than one inspection of this type may be necessary.)
  • Where inspections indicate the need for maintenance the work identified should be carried out as soon as possible. All work identified as being necessary and details of remedial action (including dates) should be fully documented.

In addition a programme for safety testing procedures for the following should be implemented:

• All fixed and portable electrical equipment and installations
• All gas equipment (included any bottled gas)
• All lifting equipment
• All fire fighting equipment and fire and smoke detection equipment