17 April 19 - When Booking a bouncy castle, think safety over the price..

When you make a booking for a bouncy castle or soft play packages always look at a few things first before you look at just the cheapest price!

1. Is the bouncy castle hire company a registered professional company? or is it someone who is running out of the back of their van? We come across a lot of unprofessional set ups where they have not been set up safely, leaving children at risk. These are normally, only the cheap one person band brigade! That do not know any better due to not learning the correct HSE standards - requirements and not attending the RPII training course and doing the exam. Always ask them if they hold the RPII certificate.

2. Does the professional bouncy castle/Softplay hire company hold a minimum of £5 Million pounds public liability insurance? You must think of your children at all times should some thing happen. Like we do.

3. Are the castles clean, maintained, safe and tested yearly? Not just thrown back in the van and left there till next time!

4. Are the delivery staff RPII accredited operators? This is very important as this will prove the staff have been trained to the necessary BS EN 14960 2013 standard as suggested and supported by HSE. Ask the hirer if they are RPII approved Operators. All BJ's Bouncy Castles Ltd delivery staff and the owner are Rpii approved and accredited. All passed the exam. Be a safe hirer. (register play international inspectors) 'Be safe Be sure' is what we are all about.

5. Because a castle company is charging £5 or £10 cheaper, this does not mean your getting a better deal! The other company is not always a better choice to hire from for your children's party! Will they turn up on that special day or leave you and your children heart broken! You only get what you pay for! Think safety first and ask your self why are they cheaper and check all the above.

6. Due to recent ease of social media, there are a lot of people buying a second hand castle that has not been tested or approved to the BS EN 14960 standard and normally your find it has stitching coming loose, it could also have holes or rips in the material, offering immediate danger for kids to be injured with entrapment areas with damaged and unsuitable inflatables. They then hire it out to friends, and then friends of friends for beer money, not really realising that they are putting children at potential risk of injury.

7. A lot of unprofessional hirers are not setting up with the correct commercial blower to firmly blow up the inflatable to hold a regular amount of children as per the sign on the castle displayed to say how many children are allowed at any one time and the user height, safe fall off areas ect.

8. It's a regular occurrence that people are 'hiring toy castles' and inflatables, this is also seen at a lot at stay and play days offering soft play, they buy a castle from Argos which clearly states a toy castle or home use only and under a certain age, but they are putting these up commercially in a public places, for the public to use.

9. Bouncy castles that are brought second hand do not always comply to the British standards and regulations. But they are used regardless of any knowledge and hired out to earn money from parents with out knowing they are putting their kids and other parents kids at risk, that they have invited to the party which can end up with a child getting badly injured. This is something that we do not want to ever happen to our children.

10. Setting up a bouncy castle is a very important aspect of any hirer. Being a professional hirer and knowing what risks to look out for and what to advise. Safety becomes beyond any price when a child or adult is involved.

11. Things we have seen from other set ups are: Castles set up on a pavements going into the road! Castles set up in halls with no weights, which can cause the castle to move and even turn over, the blower to fall over which after all is electrical and could cause it to over heat and set fire! No mats supplied for the young children's safety.

12. Castles being set up out doors and not pegged/weighted down properly. Even tent pegs are being used which would be the same as not using any pegs at all!. The best regulations for pegs used for inflatables, are at least 380mm long and 16mm thick, zinc plated steel to give you an idea just how important it really is to us that the correct equipment is used at all times.

13. So please remember no matter who you go to hire your bouncy castle, bungee run, slides or any other products, just think of the children over the price and think safety at all times.

14. As a safe parent please also remember when you have a bouncy castle ect to always have a responsible adult watch over the children to make sure they are playing safe and fair, user ages/groups are proportional and then your have peace of mind that that there should never be any major problems. See our terms on our website for more info and our safety page for more helpful info.

Thank you for reading this and be safe at all times.

'sample' safety label on a bouncy castle

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