Soft play governance & regulations

[fledtoscotland]

Just wondering if anyone can enlighten me about law regarding soft play areas. I have discovered today that soft play areas are classed as "unsupervised" so they dont have to be registered with the care commission and the staff dont have to have a disclosure scotland

My local and lovely little soft play has changed so that adults are not allowed within the play area. to add insult to injury they are advertising for volunteers to help with the children

can anyone point me in the right direction regarding rules and regulations as I'm a bit shocked about this

TIA

Technically, if there is always going to be more than one member of staff with the children, there is no need for a disclosure. However, it would be good practice for staff to have them.

It may be down to cost - if there's a high turnover of staff, it could add up.

It's been 15 years since I was at a soft play, but back then no adults were allowed within the play area - presumably so that the adults didn't injure small children. There were a couple of staff in case they got stuck, which seems to be what you're staying is happening at yours now.

It's surely not so big that you can't keep an eye on your DC from the sidelines?

thanks agentprovocateur - My problem is that DS1)30months) has a speech delay and wouldn't be able to ask for help even if he needed it. I have always been able to go in with him but this has now changed "in case an adult falls on a child". Although I can watch from the edge, I am not able to help him.

The manager quoted ROSPA, that is guidelines rather than regulations.

Could you tell the staff that he has a speech delay and wouldn't be able to ask for help, and then they could maybe keep an eye out for him?

TBH, I think the rules will be much the same for all soft-play areas.

The staff seem pretty disinterested tbh and have always just let the parents get on with it. IM(limited)E of soft play parents usually do go in with the younger children and the older ones sort themselves out. Talking to other parents today, there is a general consensus that they are unhappy with the new arrangement but was looking for some actual evidence with legislation to see where they stand.

Soft play areas are, as you say, classed as unsupervised. Staff don't have to be checked as parents are present and responsible for their own children. However, many do get their staff checked in order to reassure parents.

All the soft play areas I have been to have a separate area for younger children, although they vary on how well this is policed. They tend to discourage parents from going into the play frame but I haven't come across one that bans it completely. Having visited a lot for research purposes (my wife and I were thinking of starting one but couldn't get the funding) I think banning adults from the play frame is unusual.

thanks for that prh47bridge - can you point me in the direction of any formal legistation?

TIA

There hasn't been any formal legislation specifically covering soft play areas. At the moment they are covered by general legislation such as Health & Safety, etc.

There is a British Standard code of practise, BS8409:2002, specifically aimed at indoor soft play areas and another, BS8409:2009, aimed at fully enclosed play facilities. It is expected that these will soon be replaced by a European standard based on the British Standards. These standards are not compulsory so play centres can ignore them. However, if a play centre is sued, non-compliance with these standards would count against them. You can get a copy of the standard from the British Standards Institute but they aren't cheap - about £120 each.

There is a Play Providers Association (website here) which has a code of practise for its members. Amongst other things, this insists that all management and permanent staff members must have a CRB clearance within 3 months.