Child fractures spine after fall: Play centre fined $60k

An indoor play centre has been convicted and fined a total of $60,000 after an eight-year-old girl suffered compression fractures to her spine.

Play centre company Entertainment Velocity, trading as Funtopia Maribyrnong, was recently sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to two charges of failing to ensure the safety of people other than employees.

The Magistrates Court heard the girl was attending a friend’s birthday party at the venue in July 2022 when she attempted to climb the ladder feature, which involved being fitted with a harness and connecting it to a self-belay device via a self-belay quick link.

This then allowed a self-belay key, which was attached to the ground holding the cable in place at the bottom of the climbing feature, to detach and allow the user to climb the feature.

The CCTV footage that was acquired shows the girl correctly connecting the self-belay quick link on her harness and being able to begin her climb. However, the self-belay was able to be removed as the quick link was not fully engaged, so as the girl began descending, she was no longer attached to the belay system and subsequently fell about seven metres to the ground.

The eight-year-old girl was taken to hospital and suffered two compression fractures to her vertebrae.

The investigation by the regulator, WorkSafe, found that due to excessive wear within the self-belay device, the self-belay key could be removed when the quick link was not fully engaged with the self-belay system.

This intertwined with the fact that there was no evidence that daily functional tests of the self-belay system were taking place.

An independent assessment found the locking anchors, pin and spring assemblies of the self-belay device and key were heavily worn. It was then estimated that the age of the belay system device inspected was commensurate with evidence that Entertainment Velocity inherited many of the belay system components when they purchased the franchise in 2018.

“It is devastating to see the significant trauma and injury suffered by a young girl who should have been able to safely enjoy a fun day out,” said WorkSafe executive director of health and safety Sam Jenkin.

“WorkSafe continues to see an alarming number of issues at indoor play centres relating to the maintenance, training and supervision around climbing safety devices. With the busy summer holiday period approaching, now is the time for employers to ensure they have safe systems and processes in place to protect the public, and particularly children, from serious harm.”

The court found it was reasonably practicable for Entertainment Velocity to adequately inspect, maintain and, where necessary, replace its climbing safety equipment, including by:

• Implementing a daily inspection checklist for each self-belay device, key and quick link that included functional testing and ensuring the climbing features were not used until this daily testing was complete.

• Replacing each self-belay device, self-belay key, and self-belay quick link annually or participating in the manufacturer’s annual maintenance and recertification program.