Ensuring Safety in Indoor Playgrounds: Training Tips for Your Team

Indoor playgrounds are great places for children to have fun, explore, discover, and play. They serve as havens where kids can form some of their earliest positive memories of life. 

For parents, indoor playgrounds are places where they can watch their kids get much-needed exercise and develop social skills with other children. It is for these reasons that you must create and maintain an environment that’s as safe as possible for your indoor playground facility. 

Ensuring Safety in Indoor Playgrounds: Training Tips for Your Team

In this article, we’ll explore how indoor playground owners and facility managers can train their staff to ensure the highest possible safety standards. Follow this advice to make sure your indoor playground is as safe as possible so that parents and their kids can continue making great memories at your facility, for generations to come.

1. Safe Indoor Playground Design

Before we get into training your staff for safety, let’s first go over some safety standards for indoor playground design and equipment. A well-designed playground can prevent many accidents and bolster your reputation as a safe entertainment destination. The key areas to focus on are:

• Make Sure There’s Enough Space - Children love to run and play energetically, which can sometimes lead to accidental bumps into objects or each other. To ensure they have ample space to enjoy their activities safely, we recommend maintaining at least 6 feet of clearance around all sides of the equipment.
• Choose Your Equipment Carefully - Buy your indoor play equipment from reputable sources with a strong safety background. Be wary of used equipment, as they may be at the end of their lifecycle. 
• Safety Surfacing - Install impact-absorbing surfaces around playground equipment. This can include 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand, pea gravel, or mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials.
• Age-Appropriate Areas - If your indoor playground accommodates multiple age groups, separate play zones to prevent injuries. Use appropriate equipment for each age group, ensuring it meets safety standards.

Ensuring your staff are familiar with these indoor playground safety standards will enhance their awareness of the environment, enabling them to better prevent accidents through regular safety inspections.

2. Playground Inspection & Maintenance Procedures

Regular inspections and maintenance procedures are crucial for maintaining a safe indoor playground. Train your staff to conduct safety inspections regularly to stay on top of the health of your equipment: We recommend this process:

• Daily Inspections - This involves checking for broken or damaged equipment and ensuring all surfaces are clean and free of debris. Make sure to verify that safety padding is in place and undamaged.
• Weekly Inspections - Inspect all play equipment for wear and tear, and make sure that all safety signs are visible and legible. Also, make sure all emergency exits are accessible and unobstructed.
• Monthly Inspections - Conduct a thorough review of all safety equipment and ensure the structural integrity of playground equipment. Make sure to document any repairs or maintenance work completed, and take note of any signs of wear and tear. 

Follow up these inspections with any necessary equipment maintenance, replacing worn-out equipment. Follow manufacturers’ recommendations for maintenance schedules, and use only approved spare parts and materials for repairs. Be sure to stay updated with the latest safety standards and integrate new safety features as needed. 

Aside from regular staff checks, schedule regular inspections and servicing of playground equipment from qualified professionals.

3. Hygiene and Sanitation Standards

Maintaining cleanliness in an indoor playground is vital for children's health and safety, as well as being crucial for your business. The continual maintenance of your equipment makes materials last longer, preventing unnecessary turnover due to repairs. Ensure your staff are well-versed on the following:

• Cleaning Protocols - Train your staff to use non-toxic, child-safe cleaners for all surfaces, implementing a regular cleaning schedule for high-touch areas like slides, swings, and climbing frames. Ensure hand sanitizers are available for staff and visitors for immediate use. And always be sure to empty full trash containers!
• Personal Hygiene - Train staff to wash hands regularly, especially after cleaning or handling equipment. Especially encourage children to clean their hands before and after playing.

Kids pass germs through shared equipment, spill drinks, drop food, and occasionally get each other sick. While your playground will never be germ-free, you can ensure kids will have good, clean fun at your indoor playground by following proper staff hygiene and cleaning protocols.

4. Communication & Supervision

When it comes to creating exceptional customer experiences, communication cannot be overstated. By training your staff on how to engage both parents and children, they’ll be able to communicate rules more effectively, as well as manage conflicts as they arise. Train your staff on the following tips to be better communicators and supervisors:

• Customer Service Skills - Train your staff to handle inquiries, feedback, and concerns from guests regarding safety measures or any other aspect of their experience, while maintaining a positive demeanor. Ensure that these interactions with guests foster a welcoming environment while also maintaining vigilance to ensure safety rules are followed. If parents and children have positive interactions with staff, it creates more trust and compliance, making the environment easier to supervise.
• Effective Communication - Ensure staff are trained to communicate safety rules and guidelines clearly to guests upon entry and throughout their visit. Remember that the way you’d speak to a child would differ from the way you’d speak to an adult. Establish protocols for staff communication during emergencies, including how to contact emergency services and inform management.
• Active Supervision - Emphasize the importance of active supervision by staff members to monitor children's activities and intervene when necessary to prevent unsafe behavior. Equip staff with strategies for handling conflicts among children, or between children and caregivers, to maintain a harmonious and safe environment.
• Safety Waivers - Digital waivers are an effective way to protect your business, your guests, and your staff. They allow you to communicate important information with your guests, so you and your guests stay on the same page. Digital waivers are easy to organize and keep track of who entered your facility, and at what time.

There is bound to be no shortage of conflict at your indoor playgrounds, but training your staff in vital communication skills will help them prevent and manage these conflicts. Plus, these skills will also elevate your playground into an for kids to learn how to behave socially. 

5. Emergency Response Protocols

“Hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.”

- Maya Angelou

Being prepared for emergencies can save lives, and nowhere is that more important than when parents and children are involved. Always prepare your staff with the following safety and training protocols:

• Evacuation Plans - Establish well-marked and highly visible evacuation routes, making sure nothing is obstructing the paths to these exits. Conducting regular fire drills will help staff prepare for any emergency procedures should the time come.

•  First Aid Training - Have your staff members undergo basic first aid and CPR training courses. These courses cover adult, child, and infant CPR, as well as how to administer AED resuscitation equipment for these age groups. Keep your well-stocked first aid kit accessible at all times, and also be sure to promptly document and report any accidents or injuries.

Again, providing indoor playground staff with these training and protocols will save lives. Statistics show that immediate CPR doubles and even triples a victim's chance of survival, with rates of approximately 10% to 12% when bystander CPR is administered, compared to 2% to 8% without it. This, along with having well-established evacuation plans, will go a long way in ensuring your indoor playground is a safe, fun entertainment destination. 

Conclusion

You can never be too safe when keeping your workplace safe but never is that truer than when you’re running an entertainment center for children. Ensuring the safety of children in indoor playgrounds requires diligent effort from the entire team. By following this comprehensive checklist, indoor playground managers can effectively train their staff to maintain a safe and fun environment for all!

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