By Glenn Hicks

Bouncy castles need to be properly certified, inspected: Province

Jun 29, 2018 | 12:00 PM

It’s the fun fair and festival season but be careful about who is supplying and running the bouncy castle.

It’s important organizers of public and commercial events have a properly inspected, licensed and insured supplier of the inflatable apparatus according to the province. paNOW heard from one local event organizer who had to change their supplier after discovering they did not have the proper credentials.

Chris Selinger with the Technical Safety Authority of Saskatchewan (TSASK), the provincial inspection agency, told paNOW one of their key areas of inspection is to ensure the equipment is properly tied down.

“A situation that has happened in the past, and not here in Saskatchewan thankfully, is it gets blown away into a large body of water and can trap kids underneath,” he said.

Selinger said the purveyor of the equipment should be able to provide proof of having been inspected in this province.

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“They should be able to show you some documentation as well as a physical license affixed to the ride itself and usually that’s placed near one of the fans,” he said.

Selinger explained the inspection of bouncy castles used for commercial purposes includes aspects such as the strength of the stitching, fire retardant on the materials and how it’s tied down. He added operators need to have a plan in place to get the kids off or out of the apparatus if there’s a loss of air.

“These things can be quite heavy and you can get trapped under a wall if it suddenly deflates, so there are some hazards,” Selinger said.

The inspection, licensing and insurance rules through TSASK apply only to the commercial use of bouncy castles and not to private operators for invitation-only parties or private backyard use, according to Selinger.

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow