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Editor-in-Chief | Yang Ming

Editor | Jing Xiangyuan

Ocean balls, rocking horses, climbing frames... In recent years, small amusement facilities have become almost a "standard configuration" in major shopping malls and outdoor squares, attracting more and more parent-child families. However, accidents such as children getting injured during play occur frequently, and the safety supervision of small amusement facilities has repeatedly attracted attention.

On December 9, under the technical support of the market supervision department, the Haian Municipal Bureau of Commerce in Nantong City affixed an "ID card" with a QR code to the "naughty castle" small amusement facility on the second floor of Haian Wanda Plaza. This is the first small amusement facility in the province to have a physical "ID card," signifying that the safety supervision of small amusement facilities will be further deepened.

Image source: Internet

Booming Market and Coexisting Safety Risks

“Slow down, don't fall!” Nanjing resident Chen Rong watched her 6-year-old son closely at the inflatable castle's safety net in Nanjing Hexi Jindi Plaza, constantly reminding him. Chen Rong said that her son often comes here to play after school. She usually doesn't pay special attention to whether the inflatable castle is operating according to standards; she just keeps an eye on her son, worried that he might fall and have an accident.

Ms. Shen, who passed by, said that she usually wouldn't let her child play here. “On the one hand, I think such places may not be cleaned every day and may be dirty; on the other hand, I'm still worried about safety issues. I feel that these facilities are somewhat dangerous. I've seen such amusement facilities having problems in the news before.”

At the XSPACE Family Growth Center located in Nantong Zilanguan New Heaven, 6-year-old Xiao Ke slid down the slide and directly "charged" into the ocean ball pool below. Then, she buried her head in the balls and let out a "haha" laugh. A staff member watched the slide, occasionally shouting, “Slow down! Slow down!”

“This is the child's favorite activity; they basically ‘nag’ to come here every week.” Xiao Ke's mother, Ms. Shen, said that her biggest concern about this activity is whether the facilities are clean. “Before, when I took my child to play similar activities, some places had dark balls, and there was no dedicated staff to supervise. Once, my child slid down and ‘kicked’ another child. Fortunately, nothing serious happened.”

Small amusement facilities are diverse and widely distributed, and their users are mostly children with weak self-rescue abilities and poor safety awareness. Once an accident occurs, it will attract high social attention and have a significant impact.

In recent years, frequent amusement facility accidents in some areas have attracted widespread attention. In 2020, an inflatable castle in Kunhe Park in Baotou City was overturned by strong winds, resulting in the death of a middle-aged woman and a child, and minor injuries to two children. On May 5, 2024, a Shenzhen netizen posted a heartbreaking message on social media: Her daughter fell from a height of 7.5 meters while playing at a playground called "Xingdong Extreme Challenge" in the Libiao City Shopping Center in Nanshan District because the staff did not fasten her seatbelt. She was rushed to the ICU for emergency treatment. On the afternoon of August 10, 2024, a serious safety accident occurred due to a sudden malfunction of the high-altitude sightseeing escalator project at Detian Waterfall Scenic Area in Guangxi...

“The equipment involved in the above accidents, some are small amusement facilities, and some are on the edge of small and large amusement facilities, without clear definition, but none of them are included in the scope of supervision and are still in the regulatory blind spot,” said Pan Zhanggui from the special department of Nantong Municipal Market Supervision Bureau. “Currently, the safety issues of small amusement facilities are quite prominent. In our preliminary research, we found that small amusement facilities have low entry thresholds, unclear safety supervision responsibilities, and a lack of industry standards. Many small amusement venues lack professional personnel and safety officers, the operating environment is poor, the facilities and equipment are outdated, and the personnel operation and maintenance are inadequate, resulting in many safety hazards.”

Multiple Reasons Lead to "Regulatory Gaps"

During the visit, the reporter learned that large amusement facilities can be managed in accordance with the "Special Equipment Safety Law" and "Special Equipment Safety Inspection Regulations." Small amusement facilities are not included in the list of special equipment, resulting in unclear management authority and responsibilities. “Amusement equipment included in the mandatory supervision of the market supervision department must meet two ‘2s’: the maximum operating linear speed is greater than or equal to 2 m/s, or the operating height is greater than or equal to 2 m from the ground.” An enforcement officer told the reporter that if some companies want to ‘exploit loopholes,’ they will control the maximum operating linear speed to 1.9 m/s or the operating height to 1.9 m from the ground.

Industry insiders said that the safety supervision of many small amusement equipment is currently in a relatively ambiguous state. There is a lack of clear legal basis for the qualification requirements, production standards, and use and maintenance requirements of equipment manufacturers, resulting in many safety hazards in the management of these equipment. Due to the lagging supervision, many businesses have violated regulations in terms of equipment safety standards and operating permits, further increasing safety risks.

Therefore, currently, the safety and hygiene work of small amusement facilities generally relies on the self-inspection and self-correction of the venue, and there is no supervision department to conduct inspections.

In the Tianjiajia Research Institute in Nantong Urban Agriculture Park, there is a non-powered amusement park equipped with amusement facilities such as Spiderman, Jumping Little Superman, Wormhole Observation Deck, and VR Egg Chair. A group of children sat on the "VR Egg Chair," wearing VR glasses, experiencing 720-degree immersive 4K high-definition VR content.

“During peak tourist seasons, to ensure the safety of tourists during their play, we conduct safety education for our employees every week, with responsibilities assigned to individuals,” said Xing Yi, brand manager of Nantong Urban Agriculture Park. During indoor research activities, each team will be equipped with a safety officer, team leader, and assistant teacher to ensure the safety of the activities. In terms of equipment hygiene, disinfection is carried out in the morning and evening, and a large-scale disinfection is carried out once a week for the entire venue. Records are kept, and regular inspections are conducted.

Cai Cai, the store manager of XSPACE Family Growth Center, told the reporter that due to the large number of children, the park has also strengthened its safety protection force. Each amusement facility has dedicated personnel to supervise it. A professional amusement facility inspection team conducts inspections every day to ensure the normal operation of the project. Minor inspections are conducted daily, and major inspections are conducted weekly. At the same time, the store has also installed a no-dead-angle monitoring system to avoid visual blind spots.

During the reporter's visit, it was also found that some venues had unattended small amusement facilities, and some amusement facility management parties only arranged staff at the ticket office. “Every time I accompany my son to play in this inflatable castle, we have to keep an eye on him the whole time, worried that he might fall or bump into something, especially on weekends when there are too many people, and the staff can't take care of everyone,” Nanjing resident Chen Li told the reporter.

An "ID Card" Says Goodbye to Regulatory Blind Spots

So, who manages small amusement facilities? And how?

In fact, there are national standards for small amusement facilities. The "Safety Regulations for Small Amusement Facilities", implemented on April 1, 2018, stipulates management requirements for equipment using units, such as: inflatable amusement facilities should be equipped with anchoring systems or ballasting systems to secure them to the ground; generally, anchoring points should be evenly distributed around the inflatable amusement facilities. However, this standard is a recommended standard, not a mandatory standard, and cannot effectively address the safety issues of small amusement facilities.

In the first half of this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation (National Standards Commission) issued a new "Safety Regulations for Inflatable Amusement Facilities", making it a mandatory national standard, implemented from July 1. The new standard strengthens the safety support for the production and use of inflatable castles from a technical perspective and clarifies the main responsibilities, following the principle of "who benefits, who manages". As the beneficiary of the operation of inflatable castles, the operating entity is the primary responsible party for the safe use of the facilities. They must purchase compliant products, maintain and maintain daily operations, and ensure the safe operation of the equipment.

In addition, according to the "Notice on Strengthening the Safety Supervision of Amusement Venues and Amusement Facilities" issued by the State Council's Safety Committee Office in September 2019, various levels of education, housing and urban-rural construction, culture and tourism departments, and amusement venue project approval departments should follow the principle of "those who manage industries must manage safety, those who manage businesses must manage safety, and those who manage production and operation must manage safety" and the requirement of "whoever's venue is responsible", to carry out safety risk hazard inspections and rectifications in their respective industries; market supervision departments should provide guidance and services for the safety management of small amusement facilities; emergency management departments should urge various regions and relevant departments to strengthen the safety supervision of amusement venues and amusement facilities.

Relevant officials stated that according to the principle of "whoever's venue, whoever supervises", if small amusement facilities are located in a shopping mall, the shopping mall providing the venue and its competent authorities are responsible for requiring operators to implement various safety measures. If the facilities are located in a scenic area, the competent authority of the scenic area is the supervisory authority for safety responsibilities. Only when the daily operation of small amusement facilities is managed and safety risks are supervised can they truly become children's playgrounds.

The QR code "ID card" on the "naughty castle" amusement facility on the second floor of Haian Wanda Plaza has enabled this small amusement facility to escape regulatory blind spots. Scanning the QR code reveals information such as the equipment name, user unit, and location at a glance.

Pan Zhanggui told reporters that since November, Nantong has actively explored and further strengthened the safety supervision of small amusement facilities in accordance with the requirements of the Provincial Market Supervision Bureau. The Nantong Municipal Safety Committee Office, together with the Municipal Market Supervision Bureau, issued the "Notice on Continuously Strengthening the Safety Supervision of Small Amusement Facilities", held a city-wide promotion meeting on the safety supervision of small amusement facilities, and further clarified the responsibilities and division of labor of market supervision, education, housing and urban-rural construction, urban management, transportation, agriculture and rural areas, commerce, and culture and tourism departments according to the principle of "whoever's venue is responsible", and deployed work tasks.

“Next, local towns and streets and industry authorities in Nantong will comprehensively investigate the situation of small amusement facilities in their respective regions and fields, and register the facility information in the provincial small amusement facility safety service system. Based on the understanding of the basic situation and the reporting of information, various regions and relevant departments will regularly organize joint law enforcement inspections, focusing on checking the rental units of small amusement venues, the implementation of the responsibilities of the operating management entities, the establishment of a sound safety management system, the establishment of safety management institutions or the allocation of safety management personnel, the safety training of employees, safety tips to players in prominent locations, maintenance, and necessary emergency plans, etc. For identified safety hazards, relevant departments will implement ledger management, urge the responsible entities to rectify and close the case in a timely manner, and if necessary, implement joint credit punishment to effectively regulate the operating and use behavior of relevant entities.” said Pan Zhanggui.

Investment Special Survey of the Tourism Industry

To gain a deeper understanding of the investment and development of the tourism industry, the China Tourism Academy, in conjunction with the China Amusement Machine and Amusement Park Association and other units, is conducting a special survey on investment in the tourism industry, and sincerely invites all member units and tourism enterprises to participate in the survey.

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