Maltese worried about safety standards in leisure industry

One in four Maltese who have visited an amusement park in the past two years think that the staff is not professionally trained in safety standards while nearly a fifth thought that the equipment was not kept in a good condition.

The Eurobarometer survey carried out in 27 member states assessed the views of Europeans on safety standards in four areas: paid accommodation (hotels and camping sites), beauty and wellness centres, amusement parks, swimming pools and organized outdoor activities (like canoeing, paddle boats, skiing and mountain climbing).

The Maltese were more likely to express dissatisfaction than other Europeans on the professionalism of staff in all services except beauty and wellness centres.

Interestingly the survey shows that beauty and wellness centres are the most used service in nine countries. At least six out of 10 respondents in Spain (68%), Latvia (67%), the UK (62%) and Malta (61%) said that they or someone in their household had visited one in the past two years. By comparison, 23% of respondents in Italy and 30% of those in Hungary and Slovenia said that they or someone in their household had visited a beauty and wellness centre during this period. On the other hand the Maltese were less likely to pay to use other leisure services.

Respondents living in households where at least one person had used a service in the past two years were asked if an accident or injury occurred, or if they felt unsafe using the service and therefore stopped using it.

None of the Maltese respondents reported an accident while staying in a hotel while 2% reported an accident while engaging in an outdoor leisure activity like canoeing, paddle boats etc.

But respondents in Malta and Greece are the most likely to say they felt unsafe while participating in an organized outdoor leisure activity, and as a result stopped using the service (7% and 6% respectively).

Interestingly 16% of Maltese who have used this service think that the staff did not seem properly qualified in terms of safety precautions.

The Maltese were the second most likely to express this view after the Bulgarians (26%). This is considerably higher than the EU average of 6%. By comparison, only 2% of respondents in the UK said the same.

3% of the Maltese reported an accident while using a private swimming pool, slightly less than EU average of 4%. A further 3% stopped using the swimming pool, as they felt unsafe.

Only 1% of Maltese reported an accident while visiting an amusement park but 5% felt unsafe while using this service and stopped using it.

26% of Maltese who visited an amusement park also think that the staff at the amusement park or fairground they visited did not seem to be properly trained in terms of safety.  This was among the highest in Europe after Bulgaria (34%) Cyprus (31%) and Lithuania (27%) and far higher than in Finland and the UK were only 6% had this impression

Moreover 18% of the Maltese who visited said that the amusement park or fairground premises and/or equipment were not in good enough condition the last time they visited one. This is much higher than the EU average of 8%. In a stark contrast only 1% of respondents in Finland, and 3% of those in Denmark said the same.

But the Maltese are among the most satisfied with safety standards in beauty and wellness centres.

One in five Romanian (20%), Greek and UK respondents (both 19%) say that beauty and wellness centres have the highest frequency of accidents, compared to 3% of respondents in the Netherlands and Malta.

As regards paid accommodation only 5% of Maltese deemed the hotel they visited as not safe but 12% expressed a negative judgment on hygiene conditions (twice the European average).