The EVC Magazine Spring 2025 - Flipbook - Page 27
TRAMPOLINE PARKS
Look before you
Trampoline parks are a popular choice for school visits, so what checks should you make
before jumping in? Simon Wilkinson from The Active Indoor Leisure Association (TAILA)
explains the safety standards you should expect from a park and what questions to ask
How can you tell if a park meets
safety standards?
While trampoline parks may look
similar, there will be differences
in construction, which can affect
safety. These may include the height
of ‘drop’ features, the thickness
and absorption capability of safety
padding, and accident prevention
systems in the case of trampoline
bed failure.
The British and International
Standard ISO 23659:2022 defines
acceptable construction practices
and places responsibilities on park
designers and builders to mitigate
risks in the design phase.
While the majority of parks will
have been built with safety in mind,
not all will meet these standards.
Third-party assessment to the
British and International Standard
(such as that provided by TAILA, the
trade association for trampoline
parks) is currently the only pathway
recognised by the OEAP and the
Learning Outside the Classroom
(LOtC) Quality Badge.
Is the park responsibly managed?
ISO 23659:2022 requires park
operators to manage their facility
and their team to the highest
standards. These requirements
include such things as robust riskmanagement processes, emergency
procedures, supervision ratios and
first-aid management.
Trampoline-park operators have
a moral and legal responsibility to
identify and mitigate risks that could
not be ‘designed out’ in construction,
along with any other hazards specific
to that venue. A responsible operator
will respond to incident trends and
adjust its management procedures
to continually reduce the risk to its
visitors.
They will also continually train their
teams so that they are competent in
the latest procedures. If a trampoline
park has been awarded the LOtC
Quality Badge, you can be confident
that these operational areas have
been assessed.
How do we know if a trampoline
park is appropriate for our visit?
TAILA strongly recommends that
schools check that any park they
visit holds an up-to-date certificate
of compliance to the British or
International Standards, preferably
through an LOtC Quality Badge
accreditation. This assesses the
risk management and suitability of
the park for school visits and also
requires that the park has been
assessed to ISO 23659:2022.
OUR ADVISER SAYS...
• Check your employer's
policy to see whether
it allows visits to
trampoline parks –
some don't.
• Ask if you will have
exclusive use or if there
will be other members
of the public using the
park.
• Consider staff
competence and levels
of supervision in your
risk assessment.
• Be aware of parks asking
you to sign waivers – see
OEAP NG 3.2i Contracts
and Waivers.
• For further advice on
visits to trampoline
parks, contact your
Educational Visits
Adviser.
OEAP National Guidance 7.1d
Trampoline Parks states that if
a trampoline park does not hold
an LOtC Quality Badge, schools
should do their own due diligence,
which includes checking whether it
complies with ISO 23659:2022.
TAILA runs an inspection and assessment pathway jointly with the
Leisure Equipment Asset Protection Scheme (LEAPS).
Visit TAILA’s website for a register of assessed trampoline parks:
→activeindoorleisure.com/park-members-search
This article refers to indoor trampoline parks only. For guidance on trampolining as
a gymnastic activity, refer to Safe Practice in Physical Education, School Sport and
Physical Activity, published by the Association for Physical Education (afPE).
THE EVC MAGAZINE – SPRING 2025
27
