How to Ensure the Safety of Your Guests at Your Funfair
Hiring funfair rides and funfair side stall games is a great way to add excitement and entertainment to any event, but it's important to make sure that your guests are safe at all times. Whether you're planning a small family fun day or a large public occasion, there are several key steps you can take to ensure the safety of your guests.
Follow the above steps and you can ensure that everyone at your event has a fun time and there are no avoidable injuries. We Are Tricycle will work closely with you to ensure that you follow all UK health and safety standards for fairgrounds, and have risk assessments and method statements available on request.
Fairground Guest Safety Advice
Hire a reputable funfair ride operations company: The first and most important step is to choose a reputable funfair hire company that has a proven track record of safety. Look for a company that is fully insured and that has experienced, trained operators who know how to run each fairground ride, side stall and game safely.
Follow safety guidelines: Make sure that you and your guests are familiar with the safety guidelines for each attraction, from thrill and white knuckle rides to the Test Your Strength machine. These guidelines should be clearly displayed, and all guests should be made aware of them before using any of the attractions.
Regular inspections: Regular inspections of the rides and games are essential to ensure that they are operating safely. In the UK, these safety checks are called ADIPS. Make sure that the funfair company you hire has a rigorous inspection process in place, and that they carry out inspections before each event.
Emergency planning: It's important to have a plan in place in case of an emergency. Make sure that there are adequate first aid facilities on site, and that staff are trained in emergency procedures.
By following these simple steps, you can help ensure the safety of your guests at your funfair event.
At We Are Tricycle, we are committed to keeping your guests safe when you hire funfair rides and games from us. We believe that having fun shouldn't come at the cost of safety, and we take every precaution to ensure that your event is as safe as possible. Our team of experienced, trained operators are knowledgeable about each ride and game, and they follow strict safety procedures at every event.
We encourage you to read our funfair safety guides and FAQs to learn more about how we ensure the safety of your guests.
Guest Safety Depends on the Whole Event, Not Just the Rides
Keeping guests safe at a funfair is a wider task than checking individual attractions. Organisers also need to think about how people arrive, how they move around the site, where queues form, how children are supervised, how weather is monitored and what happens if circumstances change during the event.
That is why safety planning should begin with the event layout and expected audience rather than with a single checklist. Our How to Perform a Funfair Ride Risk Assessment guide explains how to identify hazards and controls, while How to Place Funfair Rides Around the Site looks specifically at arranging attractions within the available space.
Start with a Site That Is Easy to Understand
Visitors should be able to work out where to walk, where to queue and which areas are not intended for public access. Poorly defined routes can create unnecessary congestion around popular attractions, catering areas and entrances.
crowd barrier fences can help define selected operational and pedestrian areas, while How to Use Crowd Barrier Fencing at Events explains how barriers can support queues, ride entrances, vehicle routes and restricted zones without simply fencing off large parts of the venue.
Match the Attraction Mix to the People Attending
A safer event also begins with choosing suitable entertainment for the expected audience. A family fun day, university event and corporate festival may all require very different combinations of attractions.
For younger visitors, organisers can draw from children's fairground rides and attractions and small funfair rides. Mixed-age events may benefit from family funfair attractions and rides, while adult-focused events can include appropriate thrill and white knuckle funfair rides.
Our How to Choose the Right Funfair Rides & Games guide provides further advice on matching attractions to the audience, venue and event format.
Do Not Ignore Height and Health Restrictions
Ride restrictions are part of safe operation and should be communicated clearly. Height requirements, restraint fit and health-related considerations can vary from one attraction to another, so organisers should avoid presenting all rides as suitable for every guest.
Useful related reading includes How Tall Do Children Have to Be for Fairground Rides?, Why Do Some Funfair Rides Have Height Restrictions? and Funfair Ride Health Restrictions and the Equality Act.
Where a guest does not meet a legitimate operating requirement, the operator may have to decline access. Refusing Access to Funfair Rides explains why that can sometimes be necessary.
Make Queues Part of the Safety Plan
Queues influence how people move through the entire event. A popular ride can attract enough people to block a walkway, interfere with another attraction or make an entrance difficult to use if waiting space has not been considered in advance.
How to Manage Queues at Funfairs covers demand, throughput and waiting areas in more detail. At events where longer waits are anticipated, queue busters and waiting area games can also give organisers additional ways to keep guests occupied without concentrating every activity at the ride entrance.
Safe Loading Requires Time and Clear Instructions
When guests reach the front of a queue, the responsibility shifts from general crowd management to the individual ride cycle. Passengers need to board when instructed, use the appropriate seats, allow restraints to be checked where applicable and remain in position until the operator allows them to leave.
Our How to Safely Load Funfair Rides guide covers this stage in more detail. Riders should not be rushed simply to increase throughput, particularly where children or guests requiring additional assistance are boarding.
Children Need Supervision Throughout the Visit
Children's safety extends well beyond the few minutes they spend on a ride. Parents and carers need to supervise younger visitors while walking between attractions, standing in queues and using games or catering areas.
For family-focused events, How to Keep Children Safe at Fairgrounds contains practical guidance on ride suitability, height restrictions, supervision, queues and what to do if a child becomes separated from their group.
If a younger visitor becomes anxious about an attraction, How to Help Nervous Children with Funfair Rides also provides a more appropriate approach than pressuring them to participate.
Offer Plenty to Do Away from Fast-Moving Rides
Guest safety and comfort can benefit from variety. Not every visitor wants to spend the entire event moving between mechanical attractions, and quieter activities can help distribute people around the site.
Options include fairground side stalls and games, carnival games, garden games and mini golf. Providing a mixture of ride-based and ground-level entertainment can also make the event more suitable for a broader range of ages and abilities.
Give Guests Somewhere to Rest
Long events can involve substantial amounts of walking and standing. Seating areas can be particularly useful for families, older visitors and anyone who wants a break between attractions.
Organisers can incorporate picnic benches, Deck Chair Hire or relax and chill out zones into the wider layout. These areas work best when they are positioned away from the busiest loading points and pedestrian routes.
Food and Drink Are Part of Guest Welfare
Catering is not just an additional commercial feature. At long events, access to food and drink supports guest comfort and gives people a reason to take breaks from attractions.
Our event catering solutions can be incorporated alongside rides and activities, with options from food carts and bars through to larger festival-style catering. The catering area should itself be positioned so queues do not interfere with neighbouring attractions or important access routes.
Plan Differently for Hot Weather
During warm summer events, heat can become a welfare issue even when every attraction is operating normally. Prolonged queues in direct sunshine, limited access to water and long periods of activity can leave guests feeling unwell.
How to Keep Funfairs Comfortable in the Summer provides specific guidance on hot-weather event planning. Shade, rest areas, refreshments and sensible queue placement can all contribute to a more comfortable site.
Prepare for Rain and Wind Before They Arrive
Outdoor event conditions can change rapidly. Rain may affect pedestrian surfaces and access routes, while stronger wind can influence the operation of particular amusement rides.
Our How to Prepare Funfairs for Adverse Weather, How to Keep Funfair Rides Safe in Windy Conditions and Rainy Weather FAQs provide further information for organisers planning open-air events.
Keep Accessibility in the Main Plan, Not in an Appendix
Inclusive event planning is easier when accessibility is considered alongside the original layout. Step-free movement, queue arrangements, information, seating and access to activities can all affect how different guests experience the venue.
Disabled Accessibility and Inclusivity at Funfairs & Fairgrounds looks at the wider event environment, while Funfair Ride Health Restrictions and the Equality Act focuses more closely on the relationship between accessibility and legitimate ride operating requirements.
Remember the Areas Guests Do Not Normally See
Behind the public-facing event there may be ride transport, generators, technical equipment and operational areas that should remain separate from normal guest movement. These spaces need to be considered when planning access and fencing.
How Are Funfair Rides Transported? explains more about the logistics of mobile amusement equipment, while How to Assemble and Dismantle Funfair Rides looks at the work that takes place before and after the public event.
Ride Testing and Maintenance Support the Guest-Facing Safety Plan
Guests may never see the inspection and maintenance processes behind the attractions they use, but those technical controls remain an important part of the wider safety system.
For more information, see How Funfair Rides Are Tested for Safety, What Is the ADIPS Scheme?, Non-destructive Testing of Funfair Rides and Funfair Ride Periodic Maintenance.
Know What to Do if Normal Operation Is Interrupted
A good event plan should also account for situations where something unexpected happens. A medical incident, adverse weather, power problem or ride stoppage may require normal activity to pause while staff deal with the situation.
What to Do in a Funfair Emergency focuses on actions during an incident, while Funfair Emergency Planning and Crisis Management looks at the preparation and coordination required beforehand.
Different Event Types Need Different Safety Priorities
A private corporate event with controlled attendance creates a different environment from a free public festival. Likewise, schools, universities, councils and charities may have their own audience profiles, venue constraints and operational requirements.
We provide attractions for company fun days and corporate events, school events, university and Freshers' Week events, council and local authority events, charity events and festival hire. Safety planning should be proportionate to the actual event rather than copied from an unrelated format.
Continue with Our Event Safety and Planning Guides
Guest safety is strongest when site layout, attraction choice, supervision, accessibility, weather planning and technical controls are considered together. For further reading, see Common Factors in Funfair Injuries, What Are the UK's Safety Standards for Fairgrounds? and Are Fairground Rides Safe?.
How We Are Tricycle Protects Your Health And Safety explains more about our own approach, and the Guides section contains further information on planning, ride operation, testing, queues, accessibility and weather.
If you are arranging fairground and funfair hire and would like to discuss the attractions, layout or practical requirements of your event, contact us.