Indoor play centre fined $40,000 after boy injures back in climbing wall fall

Geelong-based indoor play and trampoline centre Bounce has been fined $40,000 in the Victorian County Court following an incident in which an 11-year-old boy fractured his sternum and injured his back after a fall from a climbing wall.

The incident happened when the boy - who was climbing with two friends - pushed himself off and plunged to the floor.

According to WorkSafe Victoria, the boy was too excited to realise that he wasn’t properly clipped into the wall’s harness system.

In March this year, operator Bounce Australia Pty Ltd was fined $12,500 without conviction in the Geelong Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to two charges of failing to ensure people other than employees were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

However, on appeal at the end of last September the penalty for the 2022 incident was tripled.

The Court heard that in May 2022, the boy and his two friends were using the climbing wall area at Bounce's indoor play centre in Grovedale.

Each wall at the centre had an auto-belay system which involved the use of a cable attached to an automatically-retracting friction device at the top of the wall. A carabiner was affixed to the bottom of the cable and clipped to a mat at the base.

Participants were required to unlock the carabiner and attach it to their harness for the climb, thereby releasing the mat onto the floor, before reattaching it to the mat afterwards for the next user.

After completing two successful climbs, the boy and one of his friends went to a wall where they could race each other.

In his excitement to race his friend, the boy did not notice that the auto-belay was retracted at the top of the wall, mistakenly thinking he was already clipped in due to the mat at the base being on the floor.

The boy raced to the top of the wall, pressed the timer button and then pushed himself off. Instead of being slowly lowered by the auto-belay, he fell four metres from the top of the wall. He was taken to hospital and was later diagnosed with a fractured sternum and soft tissue injuries to his back.

WorkSafe Victoria's investigation found Bounce did not have systems of work in place to ensure customers were adequately supervised in the climbing area and advised of the safety rules before entering.

The Court found it was reasonably practicable for Bounce to implement a number of safety measures, including:

• Maintaining a supervision ratio of one employee to 15 customers;

• Ensuring employees in the wall climbing area were not also required to fit harnesses;

• Preventing entry to the climbing area for unaccompanied children under 12 years;

• Providing a documented activity plan for employees that set out the supervision requirements for the task;

• Directing all customers to watch a video demonstrating how to safely use the belay system and requiring employees to test customer knowledge about the video; and

• Requiring customers under 12 years to have a parent or guardian present for the safety briefing.

WorkSafe Victoria Executive Director of Health and Safety, Sam Jenkin said expecting members of the public, particularly children, to perform a high-risk task without adequate supervision or a safety briefing was a recipe for disaster.

He noted “what had been a fun day out turned into an absolute nightmare for this boy and his family, who should have been able to rely on Bounce to ensure there was proper supervision and instruction for the activities on offer.

"Ensuring patrons are appropriately supervised, briefing customers on how to safely use equipment and ensuring children are accompanied by a parent or guardian are simple steps duty holders should take to ensure they manage the inherent risks involved in indoor adventure activities."

In a statement provided to 7NEWS, Bounce co-founder and Executive Director Ant Morell said at the time of the incident the company was “compliant with all safety standards governing wall climbing features”.

Following the incident Morell said it then implemented “additional safety measures” to ensure a similar accident would not happen again, adding “we genuinely care for the health and wellbeing of the child involved in the accident at our Geelong venue two-years ago.

“Any injury is distressing for the customer and staff involved.

“Safety is, and always has been, our number one priority as the business. Injury prevention and response training is part of a comprehensive Safety Management System that is in turn part of our commitment to set the standard for safety in our industry.”

Bounce Australia was also ordered to pay $5,557 in costs.

Click here to view the WorkSafe Victoria statement on the case.

Images: Climbing walls at Bounce in Geelong (top and middle) and the entry to the Centre (below).