"Some Indoor Sports Theme Parks Lack Adequate Safety Accident Prevention Measures"

Korea Consumer Agency Investigates Extreme Experience Rides
Need to Establish Facility and Safety Standards for Rides

It has been revealed that some facilities in indoor sports theme parks offering extreme experience rides have insufficient measures to prevent safety accidents.

On the 13th, the Korea Consumer Agency announced that this was confirmed after investigating 113 extreme experience rides of 7 types operated by 13 indoor sports theme park companies nationwide. The 7 types of experience rides investigated were climbing, rope courses, slides, jumping towers, zip lines, step-up, and bungee jumping. The Consumer Agency added, "Since there are no facility or safety standards for extreme experience rides, inspection items were selected based on reference standards and expert consultation."

Some facilities in indoor sports theme parks where extreme experience rides can be enjoyed have shown inadequate safety accident prevention measures. Many companies were found to either not properly install shock-absorbing mats and safety nets or fail to provide safety helmets.
[Photo by Korea Consumer Agency]

Regarding the installation and adequacy of shock-absorbing mats on the floor where users land, it was found that among the 13 companies surveyed, one company operated some rides (7 out of 10 climbing rides) without mats installed. Additionally, two companies operating climbing rides and four companies operating jumping towers had shock-absorbing mats with widths less than 2.0 meters or gaps between the rides and mats, indicating a need for improvement.

In the investigation of whether safety nets were installed to prevent falls of users and safety personnel, three companies operating rope courses and two companies operating zip lines were found to be operating without safety nets installed. According to the 'Safety Inspection Guidelines for Bungee Jumping and Zip Line Facilities in Gyeonggi Province,' safety nets serve as protection in case of falls by riders or safety personnel at the departure and arrival points, and their installation is recommended to prevent falls.

In the survey on the provision of safety helmets for each experience ride, one company did not provide helmets for four rides including rope courses, jumping towers, zip lines, and step-up, and two companies did not provide helmets for one step-up ride. Furthermore, in the investigation of whether companies obtain facility usage consent forms notifying users who are unsuitable for facility use such as pregnant women and intoxicated persons, five out of the 13 companies did not obtain such forms.

The Consumer Agency shared the investigation results with relevant government departments and requested consideration for establishing safety management measures for extreme experience rides installed indoors. A representative of the Consumer Agency urged, "When using indoor sports theme parks, users should select experience rides considering their physical abilities and check whether safety equipment is properly fastened."