Little to no oversight at trampoline parks
Place where man died part of unregulated industry
A weekend trampoline fatality in Richmond sheds a tragic light on an industry with little oversight, say people who have studied the explosive growth of trampoline parks.
Jay Greenwood, 46, died following a fatal injury he sustained Saturday during a fall at the Extreme Air Park at 14380 Triangle Rd. He was playing at the park with his two young daughters.
Before Greenwood died, he “was allegedly performing a series of acrobatic manoeuvres prior to a fall that caused serious injury and cardiac arrest,” Richmond RCMP Cpl. Dennis Hwang said. Mounties are investigating.
Trampoline parks seem to fall within a “Wild Wild West” grey area with no government or other regulation, and only a few across Canada pledging to follow best practices set by peers, says a lawyer and a professor at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops who specializes in adventure sport risk management.
“There has been explosive growth. You’ve got the sheer popularity of these parks popping up. Who doesn’t like bouncing around?” Jon Heshka told Postmedia News following the Richmond death. “You’ve also got an industry grappling to respond with measures to improve safety. They’re still figuring it out.”
Trampoline parks draw families hosting birthday parties for kids, daycare operators seeking field trip venues and companies organizing team-building events. Legally, they depend on participants being the ones to assume risks and sign waivers.
In the U.S., the number of trampoline parks increased from about 40 in 2011 to about 500 now, said Heshka, who adds emergency room visits for trampoline park-related injuries increased from 581 in 2010 to 6,932 in 2014, with children ages six to 17 accounting for the majority of injuries.
“What is required is more than advice. As the industry is relatively new, there has yet to be much critical analysis or scholarship into trampoline parks,” Heshka wrote in an abstract.
There were only three parks in 2009, but that number grew to well over 1,000 worldwide by the end of 2017, according to the International Association of Trampoline Parks, which is based in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania group’s members join on a voluntary basis and adhere to certain guidelines covering everything from insurance levels to foam pit sizes. However, there are only four Canadian companies on its list, including two in B.C.: Apex Adventure Plex in Richmond and the Flying Squirrel in Victoria.
The IATP advocates all its members follow a standard for the design, manufacture, installation, operation, maintenance, inspection and major modification of trampoline courts, according to executive vice-president Bethany Evans.
She says consumers should, as a start, look for these guidelines: a minimum of one trained court monitor for every 32 jumpers, safety signs with rules and regulations properly posted and listed clearly, and mandatory viewing of a safety video before jumping.
Locally, Technical Safety B.C. says it oversees the running of equipment and devices involving some waterslides and amusement park rides, ziplines, drop towers, bumper boats and cars, but not trampoline parks.
“There are currently no specific regulations applicable to (trampoline parks), but in light of this incident, we will be reviewing the regulatory framework and seeking opportunities to participate in discussions on codes and standards with governments and other regulators about future oversight for these types of facilities,” spokeswoman Lisa Duong wrote in an email to Postmedia News.
One advocate says she contacted the City of Richmond six months ago about safety at trampoline parks.
“Places with children in their care, with or without parents, have programs run by untrained staff, teenagers and young people with no requirements in place such as those required under the provincial regulations for child care where ratios, training, first aid and so on are required and monitored,” says Linda Shirley, who runs a Richmond child care facility.
Shirley says the city reached out to Vancouver Coastal Health, which “clarified they only have jurisdiction over licensed child care programs and programs which may be interpreted as licensed ‘out of school care’ for school-age children.”
She doesn’t know what the solution is, but believes there is a “passing of the buck” and perhaps the city, which issues licences to a host of new businesses selling recreational activities, needs to raise fees to fund the establishing of rules and inspectors to enforce them.