Safe Bouncy Castle hire advice

[Plynch]

Hi there everyone, I thought i'd share this article with you, the reason for doing so i am trying to educate people on safe hiring practices. I am a bouncy castle hirer my self and this info comes of my website so its free for you all to share.
I have included extra notes i havnt added to the website yet

When i see bouncy castles hired out in shocking or dangerous conditions i hope this article will help reduce it.

Bouncy Castle's should be an safe enviroment for children to use. With the following advice we hope when you hire a inflatable company it will be an enjoyable experience for all

We will break it down into 3 sections to try help you spot out any concering issues.

Before Booking

If you are looking at an website of the company and see if they mention if the inflatables have been inspected, have electrical safety tests and see if there is any mention of insurance and public liability

During Booking

Ask how are the inflatables inspected, You should hear an answer of PIPA Tested, RPII Inspected and ADIPS. Please be aware these inspection bodies are not "Law" and long as the operator can prove in some way that castle was inspected by a competent person it is safe to use. but the aboved mentioned is considered "Best Practice" and reconised by HSE. Ask if the operator is insured and have public liability ask them to show proof at the day of booking for you to confirm.

After Setup

Ask to check there documents to see if the castle is up to date on its test and PAT test of electrical equipment

Ask has the equipment had it daily checks to ensure the unit is free from defects and safe to use.

Make sure the blower equipment is RCD protected.

If a generator is being used ensure all spare fuel is located in a secure place away from the generator and you understand how to shut it off incase of an emergency

You will be to asked to read and sign the terms of hire contract make sure the unit is good condition before you sign and make sure you read the operator instructions given, This is your best time to ask any sort of question while the operator is still here.


Further more notes.

From reading search results Insurance seems to be a big thing.
From hirers point of view our castles need to be covered by public liability but if this is just covering the castle from defects and incidents caused by the company if they havnt set up correctly or given you faulty equipment.

Some house hold insurers have bouncy castle covered its worth finding out if yours does to!!

The big thing for operators is for Hard standing hirers. I can not stress how the castle needs to probably secured we all know about incidents where children been injured.

From a legal view the bouncy castle has to be secured at every anchor point with at least 165kg of weight, In sand bag views your looking at round 6-7 25kg bags per anchor.

Impact area is 5ft so the entrance needs to have a crash mat least 2" thick around it not some diddy little thing in front and ideally around the castle to in case a child manages to climb the wall and fall off

Adults/Children Castles

Its worth noting the difference bouncy castles are not built for "ages" there built for height. Every castle should have a marking on it around front normally for the max height of users.

If a adult goes on a childrens castle i can not stress how dangerous it is as you can either cause unknown damage internally or to the stitches and make the castle dangerous for the next hire. If you want to go on it hire an adult one!!

Hope this helps feel free to ask any questions and i'll try my best to reply

[SlightlySuperiorPeasant]

Thanks for this, I didn't know any of that and was looking into bouncy castle hire for my son's birthday party.

[Plynch]

Hi there, I forgot to mention if an operator trys to hire you the argos style bouncy castle run fast! there not ment for hire, they cant pass a test,ed! they cant be insured.

Good luck on your hire!

[jennysmith01]

Bouncy castles are used in parties and events for fun. It is necessary that you should always hire the insured bouncy castles and there should be a supervisor near the kids so that he can take the responsibility of taking care of the kids playing in the castle and to check that it shouldn?t exceed the maximum number of children allowed and the sand bags that are used to secure the castle remain at their place.
cheap bouncy castle hire Dublin

[makeusawebsite]

We hired from these guys in Kendal, Cumbria... www.bouncycastledirect.co.uk/bouncy-castle-hire-kendal/

I know they are insured and members of some kind of bouncy castle affiliation which keeps them in-check. Maybe worth checking insurance etc though before hiring in future.