The owner of Cardiff indoor play centre Supajump has been given a 10-month suspended prison sentence, 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs for a string of health and safety offences, and for failing to report to the correct authorities injuries to children who played on faulty equipment.
Supajump, based at Trident Park on Ocean Way, offers a range of attractions for children including a climbing wall; trampolines; inflatables; basketball and dodgeball arenas; a foam pit and a large airbag.
But Between August 2017 and August 2019 six separate incidents occurred on the premises which left children injured. These included:
- A minor injury when a child was trapped between an underinflated airbag and the pit wall.
- Leg fractures while using trampolines or the foam pit, and;
- A child sustaining a spinal fracture whilst using the foam pit
Philip Booth, 60, who was sentenced this week at Cardiff Crown Court, pleaded guilty to all six offences back in September last year. Mr Booth is the sole director of Supatramp Ltd, which runs the leisure facility Supajump on Ocean Way. Supatramp Ltd was also fined £10,000.
The court heard that Shared Regulatory Services visited Supajump prior to the venue opening at Easter in 2017 to investigate reports that the standard of equipment being installed at the leisure facility was not compliant with legislation.
A health and safety inspector advised Mr Booth that ‘suitable and sufficient’ risk assessments needed to be carried out to safeguard his customers. Mr Booth was also advised that the equipment should be independently assessed before the facility was opened to the public.
Despite ongoing discussions and a number of visits from Health and Safety Mr Booth failed to comply with health and safety recommendations and failed to report injuries to children which occurred on his premises to the appropriate authorities.
Shared Regulatory Service found that Supajump, which was managed on site by Mr Booth had:
- A lack of safety briefings for customers on how to use the equipment.
- Inadequate supervision by staff when children were using the equipment.
- Lack of ‘critical control’ measures resulting in the equipment being misused.
- Risk assessments carried out were not ‘suitable or sufficient’.
- Information from the equipment manufacturers and the ‘design risk assessments’ were not provided by Mr Booth when requested.
- There was no operational plan to show how the equipment should be used by customers correctly.
Cllr Dan De’Ath, Cabinet Member responsible for Shared Regulatory Services at Cardiff Council, said: “This is a case where basic health and safety processes were not followed by a business and despite repeated contact by our officers, the problems persisted and remained a concern.
“Put simply, children were put at risk and injured. The incidents that occurred show a total disregard by both Mr Booth and his business for the legislation that is in place. As the business is still operating, council officers will continue to monitor any further complaints or concerns that we receive and if necessary, will take further legal action against this business. The sentence should send a clear message that the court takes health & safety offences very seriously.”
Philip Booth failed to put measures in place to ensure customers were not exposed to risks associated with using play equipment at the trampoline park – contrary to Section 3 of the ‘Health and Safety at Work Act 1974′. The company and Mr Booth were also charged with four separate counts of failing to report notifiable injuries sustained by four separate children under ‘The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013′.
