Bouncy castle hire is a fantastic way of providing entertainment for all the family. During your fun the last thing you may think about, is that if something was to go wrong.
In this blog post I am going to provide as much bouncy castle safety information as I can. So rest assured Cream castles are following all the safety guidelines possible.
When hiring a bouncy castle you shouldn’t take for granted all hire companies are of equal standard. Rates for hire can vary quite considerably, but not all will provide a quality inflatable to industry standards.
You should consider this bouncy castle safety information wisely and carefully when selecting a bouncy castle hire company to use. The following bouncy castle safety information can be easily found in numerous places around the web.
You can click on any of the links to check for yourself. The rules and guidelines any bouncy castle hire company should be following are:
Bouncy castle certification
Bouncy castles must be tested annually by a competent person. In order to achieve this we have a PIPA inspection or an RPII inspection on all our inflatables. Equipment under twelve months old are covered by a manufacturer test.
The bouncy castle hire company you use, should be able to provide an up to date PIPA tag or an RPII certificate or equivalent certification. Proving the inflatable has been tested and inspected and is fit for purpose.
This is not a legal requirement, however we want to assure all our customers that our inflatables are tested to the highest industry standards.
If a company has insurance and no test certification on their inflatables. This would then render any insurance policy void. So this is sound reason alone to make sure any inflatable you hire is adequately tested.
The age of the bouncy castle
Materials used to manufacture bouncy castles are very hard wearing and can take a fair bit of heavy use. However you should check the inflatable is manufactured to BS EN 14960 British standards. This standard shows the inflatable has quality materials and are fire retardant.
They are free from skin irritants and are capable of enduring a certain amount of force. Any bouncy castle under 3 – 4 years of age would generally be accepted as very low risk of causing injury.
Public liability insurance
Any reputable bouncy castle hire company should be able to provide public liability insurance, with a limit of indemnity of at least £2 million. Cream castles has £5 million and are insured for licensed 163 kg premises. We also carry a laminated copy on board our vehicles.
Set up and operation
Employees should be suitably trained and experienced adult personnel. The hire company is responsible for the safe set up and in some circumstances, operation and supervision of the bouncy castle.
The most popular location for a bouncy castle is on a flat grasses area. However inflatables can be set up outdoors on hard surfaces. Providing good inflatable set up practices are followed. Every anchor point should have a weight or force on each anchor point equivalent to 163 kg.
Cream Castles anchor our inflatables to solid surfaces using 100 mm bolts to be certain this rule is followed. Using sand bags is not feasible outdoors as 36 x 25 kg sand bags would be needed to comply with this ruling.
The hire company should also provide a hire agreement for you to sign, along with a safety manual for safe operation of the equipment. Some of the main bouncy castle safety information points to consider are as follows.
- Children should refrain from using the equipment during high wind and wet weather. Inflatables can flip over or become slippery and may cause injury.
- The castle must be adequately secured to the ground and away from obstacles. Such as fencing and overhead power lines.
- Soft matting must be placed at the front or open sides of the inflatable.
-
There should be a responsible adult supervising play at all times.
The number of children should be limited to the hire companies recommendations in the hire manual.
- All children must be made to remove footwear, jewellery, sharp objects, buckles. Food, drink and acrobatics must not be allowed on the inflatable. Failure to comply could cause serious risk to injury.
I hope the bouncy castle safety information I have provided has made you think wisely about choosing your Rotherham bouncy castle hire company. If you are looking for a Sheffield bouncy castle hire company providing a quality service then Cream castles is the company to use.
<< Return to news