Playground Safety Standards: What Operators Need To Know

Playgrounds should aim to not only be a place for children to play and create treasured memories, but they should also be an area where children are safe to explore.

According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), around 40,000 children under age of 15 require medical attention due to injuries sustained on playgrounds every year. One of the key factors that contributes to this figure is playgrounds failing to comply to safety standards.

Join Pentagon Play as we take a deep delve into the world of playground safety guidelines and standards and how you can check if your playground is a safe space for kids to explore and play!

What are Playground Safety Standards?

In the UK, playground safety standards are a set of rules which are designed to keep playgrounds a safe space for children to play in. By following these safety standards, a playground owner can minimise the chance of a serious injury occurring on their playground, which avoids:

• A harmful reputation developing
• A legal case being brought against the owner
• The amount of users reducing over time
• Being forced to redesign or remove the playground entirely

As a playground owner in the UK, it is vital that you understand the key playground safety standards that every playground is expected to abide to.

What are the Key Playground Safety Standards?

If you're a playground owner in the UK, it's important that your play area abides to the EN 1176 and EN 1177 standards. It is a legal and moral responsibility of a playground owner to ensure that their play area follows these standards.

Both of these standards aim to make playgrounds as safe as possible, but they each focus on a different aspect of the playground.

BS EN 1176

BS EN 1176 is a set of standards that focuses on making playground equipment safer for children to use. It focuses on every aspect of a piece of play equipment, ranging from the design and manufacturing of the equipment to the installation and maintenance carried out on the play equipment.

It's important to note that BS EN 1176 changes regularly, introducing new rules or updating old standards to reflect the modern definition of a safe playground. This means that even if your playground was following safety standards last time you checked, such as BS 5696 or DIN 7926, it could still be classified as dangerous as the rules are always changing.

Focusing primarily on playground equipment, it's important to know that any playground equipment supplier that you are working with is following BS EN 1176 standards. However, once the equipment is installed on your playground, it becomes your responsibility to make sure that the equipment remains in a safe condition.

BS EN 1177

BS EN 1177 is a set of standards that focuses primarily on the safety surfacing your play area is using. Using statistical data from head injuries, the standards of BS EN 1177 revolve around the depth and quality of your safety surfacing.

As a playground owner, you've probably heard the term 'critical fall height' (more commonly abbreviated to CFH) being thrown around. BS EN 1177 is responsible for dictating what depth of safety surfacing is required depending on the fall height of a piece of equipment.

Not only is depth a key factor to BS EN 1177, but so is the quality of the safety surfacing. Safety surfacing should be kept in great condition to avoid any impact absorbing features or drainage systems from deteriorating. Having a well maintained surface means that children are less likely to suffer a serious injury if they fall on your safety surface.

Before you purchase any safety surfacing, make sure that your chosen surfacing installer is following BS EN 1177 standards to a tee to avoid breaking any safety standards in the future. Resurfacing can be extremely pricey, so make sure you choose a trusted supplier.

How do I Know if my Playground is Meeting Safety Standards?

There's a few steps you can take to ensure that your playground is meeting EN 1176 and EN 1177 standards effectively. These include:

• Ensuring that your playground surfacing/equipment supplier is following safety standards
• Perform routine risk assessments and inspections to identify potential breaches of standards
• Perform regular maintenance to ensure you equipment/surfacing is working effectively
• Familiarise yourself with BS EN 1176 and 1177

By following this simple list, you can already make your playground environment a lot safer for your little adventurers. However, most of these factors can be extremely time-consuming and difficult to execute yourself.

How Pentagon Play can Help

Working for over 25 years in the playground equipment industry, Pentagon Play have become one of the UK's most trusted playground equipment experts. From designing state-of-the-art play equipment to installing a variety of safety surfaces, we know a thing or two when it comes to creating a safe play space.

Not only do our products abide by BS EN 1176 and BS EN 1177 standards, but we have put together a team of accredited inspectors who can visit your playground and perform the necessary checks to ensure you that your playground is safe.

Playground Inspections and Maintenance Service

Recognised by RoSPA, Pentagon Play's Playground Inspections and Maintenance Service is made up of a team of RPII-accredited inspectors.

Having this accreditation ensures that our inspectors can carry out operational and annual inspections to the high standard set by RoSPA. Not only this, but our inspectors are taught specific ways to view playground equipment and locate areas of damage, which the untrained eye won't be able to see.

It's natural for playground equipment to degrade over time and for surfaces to become unsuitable, but by having a playground inspection carried out, our team of experts can highlight the affected areas and recommend ways to prevent the damage from getting worse.

Whether it's an operational playground inspection or an annual inspection, the Playground Inspections and Maintenance team are qualified to perform an in-depth inspection on your playground. At the end, you'll receive a simple-to-read report, which details any discoveries or recommendations.

As an added bonus, if your playground contains any Pentagon Play equipment and our inspectors notice minor issues (worn-out caps, minor damage to wood, loose fixtures and fittings), the team will carry out the required maintenance on the spot!

Conclusion

Whether you're a primary school or a commercial setting, every organisation that owns a children's playground needs to ensure that safety standards have been accounted for. Children deserve a safe space to unleash their energy, make friendships and create memories.

If you want to avoid any serious accidents and ensure that your play area is up to standards, then why not talk to our Inspections and Maintenance team today and see how Pentagon Play can help your playground.