Safety in leisure services

Act on customer safety in leisure services has been updated. Its name is the Act on the Safety of Consumer Services (185/2025), or the Consumer Services Act in short. The new Act replaces the sections on services in the repealed Consumer Safety Act 920/2011.

The Consumer Services Act entered into force on 5.5.2025. Regarding the documentation obligation, the law includes a transition period: For service providers who previously did not need to prepare a safety document according to the Consumer Safety Act, the requirement for safety documentation will be applied 6 months after the law comes into force. Other requirements of the law will be applied immediately from the law's effective date.

Which services does the Act concern?

The Act on the Safety of Consumer Services applies to a wide range of leisure services, including play and sports services, wellbeing services, tourism activities and similar. For example, it applies to the following:

  • amusement parks and funfairs
  • playgrounds, indoor play areas and theme parks
  • gyms, group exercise and sports facilities
  • beauty care and body modification services
  • swimming pools, spas and bathing areas as well as water activities organised in them
  • ski resort services
  • nature, experience and adventure services and hiking trails
  • horse-riding and other animal-related services 
  • camps
  • motor sport events and services
  • public events
  • equipment rental services for consumers.

The Consumer Services Act applies to services that are intended or essentially used for private consumption, or purposes similar to it. This Act applies insofar as there are no other legal provisions regarding the safety of consumer services that require at least the same level of safety.

Consumer services not covered by the Act include social welfare and health care services, education services provided by schools and educational institutions, and transport services. The safety of these services is subject to specific legislation.

Where can I find out more?

This Tukes website gives an overview of the content of the Consumer Services Act. For more information on service providers' obligations, see Tukes instructions Safety in Consumer Services. You can also learn more about the service provider’s duties on a new course on the safety of leisure services available on Tukes Kampus.

All Tukes materials will be updated to meet the requirements of the new Act. Some of the old instructions on the website will be taken down. Tukes will publish more detailed instructions for different service sectors in 2025.

Who is a service provider?

The Consumer Services Act imposes a number of obligations on service providers. A service provider may be a private individual, company, municipality, organisation or some other party that provides a consumer service, in other words allows private persons to use a service or to obtain it for their use.

An association or community is not a service provider if it only provides the service to its members and does not engage in business activities. For example, a sports service organised by an athletics club for its members, such as training sessions that do not aim for significant financial gain, is not a consumer service referred to in the Act. Individuals who provide a service as part of non-commercial activities are also not service providers.

How does Tukes supervise customer safety in consumer services?

Tukes is the competent authority that supervises service providers to ensure that they comply with the Act on the Safety of Consumer Services. Tukes’ supervision methods and competence are described on the Supervision page. Tukes works together with several other authorities in its supervision activities.