A trampoline park in Edinburgh made thousands of customers sign a waiver that may be “unenforceable” under Scots Law.
The waiver was signed by customers at the Ryze trampoline park when it opened in Edinburgh last month. In the three weeks of operation, the park was subject to more than 100 accidents. The park has been shut temporarily following an investigation by health and safety officers over licensing issues.
Injuries In The Park
There have been seven serious injuries in three weeks since the park opened its doors, with broken bones, head injuries and even one customer suffering a broken neck as a result of injuries sustained at the park.
Despite the claims from some that the injuries were caused as a result of negligence, and that staff were not properly trained to deal with serious injury, Ryze believe that the high amount of incidents were due to the high demand for the park.
Case Lawrence, from Ryze, said: “This injury incident rate is right in line with what we see in the US and what we would expect here.
“It is actually better than the industry norms, and we always see the incident rate decline after the first few months as the novelty wears off and people become more familiar with the rules and, frankly as our staff gain more experience and training.”
He added: “We do all we can to make the park as safe as possible. Each of our parks, including Ryze Edinburgh, is built according to ASTM standards, which is the best standards and practices established for running trampoline parks by the industry in the US.
“We have never had an injury that was caused by the equipment or layout of the park. Like other active pursuits, injuries come from landing awkwardly or interacting with another jumper.”
Waiver
Thousands of people signed a waiver removing liability from the organisers in the event of injury, however according to expert solicitors said waiver may not be compliant with Scots law.
In the Edinburgh Evening News, a solicitor stated that any attempt to remove liability from activities like trampolining is “void” and “completely meaningless”. This is due to the fact that a waiver would be redundant if injuries were caused as a result of negligence and a failure in the duty of care of organisers.
A spokeswoman from a legal firm said: “Most of us, at one time or another, will have taken part in an activity that involved signing a waiver: rock climbing, trampolining, sky-diving, for example.
“This will normally take the form of a long legal declaration that says that the organiser has no responsibility for any injury or death that occurs during the activity. You are left with the impression that if anything goes wrong, you have no legal rights.
“But you do. These waivers form a contract between you and the activity organiser.
“This means that any contract term which attempts to exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury is void and unenforceable. It is completely meaningless.”
Despite the claim, Ryze believes they are on sound legal ground.
Contact Us
Regardless of if you have signed a waiver or not, if you have suffered an injury as a result of negligence, you will be able to make a personal injury claim. Contact us today to get your claim underway using our online contact form.