Amended in Assembly August 7, 2013

Amended in Senate May 24, 2013

Amended in Senate April 30, 2013

Amended in Senate April 4, 2013

Senate Bill No. 256

Introduced by Senator Lieu

February 13, 2013

An act to add Part 8.2 (commencing with Section 7940) to Division 5 of the Labor Code, relating to trampoline courts.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 256, as amended, Lieu. Trampoline courts: safety inspection.

Existing law establishes the Permanent Amusement Ride Safety Inspection Program and requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations to propose rules and regulations for adoption by the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board relating to permanent amusement ride safety for the protection of the general public. The program exempts certain amusements from its provisions, including trampolines and stationary spring-mounted fixtures.

This bill would establish a state program to inspect trampoline courts, as defined, for the protection of the general public using trampoline courts. The bill would require each owner of a trampoline court to annually submit to the division a certificate of compliance, and to report specified accidents. The bill would make operation of a trampoline court contingent on being insured in an amount not less than $1,000,000, or self-insured, as prescribed by rules and regulations promulgated by the division. The bill would require the division to formulate and propose rules and regulations for adoption by the board regarding trampoline courts, and to adopt rules and regulations necessary to administer the program. The bill would authorize the division to employ qualified safety inspectors, as defined, for purposes of the program and would require the division to certify inspectors as prescribed. The bill would authorize the division to fix and collect fees to cover the reasonable costs of administering the program, and provide for the imposition of civil penalties for violations of the program or rules and regulations adopted to implement the program. The bill would establish the Trampoline Courts Safety Fund and require fees and penalties collected pursuant to these provisions to be deposited in the fund, as specified. The bill would require that all moneys in the fund be made available upon appropriation by the Legislature.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Part 8.2 (commencing with Section 7940) is
added to Division 5 of the Labor Code, to read:

 

PART 8.2.  Trampoline Courts

 

7940.  

It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this part to
create a state begin insert safety end insert program for begin delete the inspection of end delete trampoline courts.

7941.  

As used in this part:

begin insert

(a) “Fund” means the Trampoline Courts Safety Fund
established by Section 7949.

end insert begin delete

(a) “Trampoline court” means a defined area comprised of one
or more institutional trampolines, a series of institutional
trampolines, a trampoline court foam pit, or a series of trampoline
court foam pits. The division shall determine the specific devices
that are trampoline courts for the purposes of this part. This
determination shall be made to apply equally to all operators of
similar or identical facilities and shall be made pursuant to a
procedure promulgated by the standards board.

end delete

(b) “Institutional trampoline” means a trampoline intended for
use in begin insert a defined area within end insert a commercial or institutional facility.

begin delete

(c) “Trampoline court foam pit” means a combination style
dismount pit designed with a rebound device, covered with loose
impact absorbing blocks.

end delete begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  “Operator” or “owner” means a person who owns or controls
or has the duty to control the operation of a trampoline court. It
includes the state and every state agency, and each county, city,
district, and all public and quasi-public corporations and public
agencies therein.

begin delete

(e) “Fund” means the Trampoline Courts Safety Fund
established by Section 7949.

end delete begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  “Qualified safety inspector” means begin delete either of the following: end delete

begin delete (1) end delete begin delete   end delete begin delete A end delete begin insert a end insert person who holds a valid professional engineer license
issued by this state or issued by an equivalent licensing body in
another state, begin delete and end delete who has been approved by the division as a
qualified safety inspector for permanent amusement begin delete rides. end delete begin insert rides,
and who has documented to the satisfaction of the division that he
or she is qualified to inspect trampoline courts pursuant to
requirements adopted by the division pursuant to this part. end insert

begin insert

(e) “Trampoline” means a rebound device activated by vertical
or lateral jumping used in a trampoline court.

end insert begin insert

(f) “Trampoline court” means a defined area comprised of one
or more institutional trampolines, a series of institutional
trampolines, a trampoline court foam pit, or a series of trampoline
court foam pits. The division shall determine the specific devices
that are trampoline courts for the purposes of this part. This
determination shall be made to apply equally to all operators of
similar or identical facilities and shall be made pursuant to a
procedure promulgated by the standards board.

end insert begin insert

(g) “Trampoline court foam pit” means a combination style
dismount pit designed with a rebound device, covered with loose
impact absorbing blocks.

end insert begin delete

(2) A person who documents to the satisfaction of the division
that he or she meets all of the following requirements:

(A) The person has a minimum of five years’ experience in the
amusement ride field, at least two years of which were involved
in actual amusement ride inspection with a manufacturer,
government agency, amusement park, carnival, or insurance
underwriter.

(B) The person completes not less than 15 hours per year of
continuing education at a school approved by the division, which
education shall include inservice industry or manufacturer updates
and seminars.

(C) The person has completed at least 80 hours of formal
education during the past five years from a school approved by
the division for amusement ride safety. Nondestructive-testing
training, as determined by the division, may be substituted for up
to one-half of the 80 hours of education.

end delete

7942.  

This part does not apply to any of the following:

(a) Any playground operated by a school or local government,
if the playground is an incidental amenity and the operating entity
is not primarily engaged in providing amusement, pleasure, thrills,
or excitement.

(b) Museums or other institutions principally devoted to the
exhibition of products of agriculture, industry, education, science,
religion, or the arts.

(c) Skating rinks, arcades, laser or paint ball war games, indoor
interactive arcade games, bowling alleys, miniature golf courses,
mechanical bulls, inflatable rides, ball crawls, exercise equipment,
jet skis, paddle boats, air boats, helicopters, airplanes, parasails,
hot air balloons, whether tethered or untethered, theaters,
amphitheaters, batting cages, stationary spring-mounted fixtures,
rider-propelled merry-go-rounds, games, slide shows, live animal
rides, or live animal shows. As used in this section, “stationary
spring-mounted fixtures” does not include trampolines.

(d) Gymnastics clubs or facilities where all of the following are
applicable:

(1) The majority of the activities are gymnastics based.

(2) The gymnastics club or facility derives the majority of its
revenues through supervised educational instruction classes or
programs where the student-to-coach/instructor ratio is based on
age, skill level, and number of students.

(3) The gymnastics club or facility teaches gymnastics skills
and basics through programs that use progression-oriented training
and has supervised training and classes.

(e) Trampoline courts operated at a private event that are not
open to the general public and not subject to a separate admission
charge begin insert for the use of the trampoline court end insert .

7943.  

(a) The division shall formulate and propose rules and
regulations for adoption by the begin delete Occupational Safety and Health
Standards Board end delete begin insert standards board end insert for the safe installation,
begin insert construction, end insert repair, maintenance, use, operation, and inspection
of all trampoline courts as the division finds necessary for the
protection of the general public using trampoline courts. The rules
and regulations shall be in addition to the existing applicable safety
orders and shall be concerned with engineering force stresses,
safety devices, and preventive maintenance. Nothing in this part
shall limit the authority of the division to prescribe or enforce
general or special safety orders.

(b) It is the Legislature’s intent that the rules and regulations
adopted pursuant to this part be consistent with those adopted by
the begin delete Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board end delete begin insert standards
board end insert for traveling amusement rides, to the extent that those rules
and regulations are found to be appropriate. begin insert The standards board
may consider relevant information in adopting its rules and
regulations, including, but not limited to, the American Society
for Testing Materials (ASTM) International Committee F24
Standards on Amusement Rides and Devices. end insert

7944.  

(a) On an annual basis, each owner of a trampoline court
shall submit to the division a certificate of compliance on a form
prescribed by the division, which shall include the following:

(1) The legal name and address of the owner and his or her
representative, if any, and the primary place of business of the
owner.

(2) A description of, the name of the manufacturer of, and, if
given by the manufacturer, the serial number and model number
of, the trampoline court.

(3) A written declaration, executed by a qualified safety
inspector, stating that, within the preceding 12-month period, the
trampoline court was inspected by the qualified safety inspector
and that the trampoline court is in material conformance with the
requirements of this section and all applicable rules and regulations
adopted by the division and standards board.

(b) The owner of multiple trampoline courts at a single site may
submit a single certificate of compliance that provides the
information required by subdivision (a) for each trampoline court
at that site.

(c) A certificate of compliance shall not be required until one
year following the promulgation of any rules or regulations by the
division governing the submission of the certificates.

(d) A person shall not operate a trampoline court that has been
inspected by a qualified safety inspector or division inspector and
found to be unsafe, unless all necessary repairs or modifications,
or both, to the devices at the facility have been completed and
certified as completed by a qualified safety inspector.

(e) For the purposes of satisfying this section, a qualified safety
inspector shall meet the requirements in subdivision begin delete (e) end delete begin insert (g) end insert of
Section 7941 and shall be certified by the division. Each qualified
safety inspector shall be recertified every two years following his
or her initial certification. A qualified safety inspector may be an
in-house, full-time safety inspector of the owner of the trampoline
court, an employee or agent of the insurance underwriter or
insurance broker of the trampoline court, an employee or agent of
the manufacturer of the trampoline court devices, or an independent
consultant or contractor.

(f) The owner of a trampoline court shall maintain all of the
records necessary to demonstrate that the requirements of this
section have been met, including, but not limited to, employee
training records, maintenance, repair, and inspection records for
each trampoline court, and records of accidents of which the
operator has knowledge, resulting from the failure, malfunction,
or operation of a device at the trampoline court, requiring medical
service other than ordinary first aid, and shall make them available
to a division inspector upon request. The owner shall make those
records available for inspection by the division during normal
business hours at the owner’s permanent place of business. The
owner, or representative of the owner, may be present when the
division inspects the records. In conjunction with an inspection of
records conducted pursuant to this subdivision, the division shall
conduct an inspection of the operation of the devices at the
trampoline court. begin insert The division may consolidate end insert begin insert inspections under
this section to achieve appropriate efficiencies. end insert

(g) Upon receipt of a certificate of compliance, the division
shall notify the owner of the trampoline court or courts for which
a certificate is submitted whether the certificate meets all the
requirements of this section, and if not, what requirements must
still be met.

(h) The division, in addition to the annual inspection performed
by the division pursuant to subdivision (f), shall inspect the records
for a trampoline court or the devices at the trampoline court, or
both, under either of the following circumstances:

(1) The division finds that the certificate of compliance
submitted pursuant to this section for the trampoline court is
fraudulent.

(2) The division determines, pursuant to regulations it has
adopted, that a trampoline court has a disproportionately high
incidence of accidents required to be reported pursuant to Section
7945. begin insert The division, by regulation, may establish appropriate
factors to consider in determining what constitutes a high incidence
of accidents. end insert

(i) The division shall conduct its inspections with the least
disruption to the normal operation of the trampoline court.

7945.  

(a) Each operator of a trampoline court shall begin insert , within 24
hours, end insert report or cause to be reported to the division begin delete immediately end delete
by telephone each known accident where maintenance, operation,
or use of the trampoline court results in a death or serious injury
to any person unless the injury does not require medical service
other than ordinary first aid. begin delete If a death or serious injury results
from the failure, malfunction, or operation of a trampoline court,
the equipment or conditions that caused the accident shall be
preserved for the purpose of an investigation by the division. end delete

(b) A division inspector may inspect any trampoline court after
the report of an accident to the division. The division may order
a cessation of operation of a device if it is determined after
inspection to be hazardous or unsafe. Operation shall not resume
until these conditions are corrected to the satisfaction of the
division. begin insert The division shall conduct any reinspection within five
working days of receiving written notice that the hazardous or
unsafe condition has been corrected. end insert

begin insert

(c) If a death or serious injury results from the failure,
malfunction, or operation of a trampoline court, the equipment or
conditions that caused the accident shall be preserved for the
purpose of an investigation by the division. The affected portion
of the trampoline court shall remain closed until the division
determines that defects, if any, have been remedied in accordance
with the division’s rules and regulations pursuant to this part and
approves the reopening of the affected portion.

end insert begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  Whenever a state, county, or local fire or police agency is
called to an accident involving a trampoline court covered by this
part where a serious injury or death occurs, the responding agency
shall immediately notify the nearest office of the division.

7946.  

(a) A person shall not operate a trampoline court unless,
at the time of operation, one of the following is in existence:

(1) The owner of the trampoline court provides an insurance
policy in an amount not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000)
per occurrence insuring the owner or operator against liability for
injury or death to persons arising out of the use of the trampoline
court.

(2) The owner of the trampoline court meets a financial test of
self-insurance, as prescribed by rules and regulations promulgated
by the division, to demonstrate financial responsibility covering
liability for injury suffered by patrons using the trampoline court.

(b) The insurance policy shall be obtained from one or more
admitted insurers licensed by the Department of Insurance to write
liability insurance in this state, as defined in Section 100 of the
Insurance Code, or by begin delete an end delete begin insert one or more end insert eligible surplus line begin delete insurer, end delete
begin insert insurers, end insert with the insurance procured pursuant to Section 1765.1
of the Insurance Code.

7947.  

Each owner of a trampoline court shall provide training
for its employees in the safe operation and maintenance of
amusement rides, as required by the standards adopted by the
begin delete American Society for Testing and Materials, as amended or end delete begin insert ASTM
International Committee F24 Standards, end insert as may be amended from
time to time, to the extent that those standards are consistent with
the standards adopted by the division pursuant to this part, and the
injury prevention program required under Section 6401.7.

7948.  

The division shall adopt rules and regulations necessary
for the administration of this part. The division may employ
qualified safety inspectors as it determines to be necessary for the
purposes of this part.

7949.  

(a) The division may fix and collect all fees necessary
to cover the reasonable costs of administering this part. Fees shall
be charged to a person or entity receiving the division’s services
as provided by this part or by regulations adopted pursuant to this
part, including, but not limited to, approvals, determinations,
certifications and recertifications, receipt and review of certificates,
and inspections. In fixing the amount of these fees, the division
may include a reasonable percentage attributable to the general
cost of the division for administering this part. Notwithstanding
Section 6103 of the Government Code, the division may collect
these fees from the state or any county, city, district, or other
political subdivision.

(b) (1) The Trampoline Courts Safety Fund is hereby established
within the State Treasury. All money in the fund shall be available
for the administration of this part, upon appropriation by the
Legislature.

(2) All fees collected pursuant to this part shall be deposited
into the Trampoline Courts Safety Fees Account, which is hereby
established within the fund.

(3) All penalties collected pursuant to this part shall be deposited
into the Trampoline Courts Safety Penalties Account, which is
hereby established within the fund.

7949.5.  

(a) If the division determines that any owner or
operator of a trampoline court subject to this part has willfully or
intentionally violated this part or any rule or regulation
promulgated under this part, and that violation results in a death
or serious injury as specified in Section 7945, the division shall
impose on that owner or operator a civil penalty of not less than
begin delete twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) end delete begin insert fifteen thousand dollars
($15,000) end insert begin insert end insert and not more than seventy thousand dollars ($70,000).

(b) The division shall enforce this part by the issuance of a
citation and notice of civil penalty in a manner consistent with
Section 6317. Any owner or operator who receives a citation and
penalty may appeal the citation and penalty to the begin delete Occupational
Safety and Health Appeals Board end delete begin insert appeals board end insert in a manner
consistent with Section 6319.