Technical Safety BC is recommending that the province better regulate trampoline parks after a recent death and increased accidents in the facilities in recent years.
The move comes after a Victoria dad died at a Richmond trampoline park in January 2018.
At the time, police said Jay Greenwood, 46, did “a series of acrobatic manoeuvres prior to a fall that caused serious injury and cardiac arrest.”
Witnesses who were at the Richmond Extreme Air Park said Greenwood was jumping into a foam pit when he broke his neck.
The Greenwood family is currently suing the trampoline park for negligence.
Technical Safety BC oversees the safety of “amusement devices” such as roller coasters, ziplines, inflatable devices such as bouncy castles, bumper cars, simulators and waterslides. Currently, the are not in charge of trampoline park safety.
The safety authority determined the current regulatory structure “does not provide clear guidance” as to how trampoline parks should be regulated.
Municipal Affairs Minister Selina Robinson said she “appreciates” Technical Safety BC’s work.
“We want families to feel secure knowing that a fun family activity is also safe, and that’s why government agrees with this recommendation,” Robinson said.
“I welcome Technical Safety BC’s forthcoming regulatory framework that will better protect people in British Columbia.”
Technical Safety BC is scheduled submit final recommendations to the province on broader regulatory changes to amusement rides by the end of 2019.
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