Safety Standards in the Playground

 

Play is an important element of the life of children, this activity helps them improve their brain, muscles, and motor skills. Additionally, it also makes their learning, knowledge, problem solving, social, and imaginative skills better. While you are working on a project of park redevelopment, there are a lot of things to consider.

Certainly, the design of a park or playground plays an important role in making a playground appealing to the people who are going to use it. However, design is not the only thing that matters, there are other things that matter a lot in making the playground or park enjoyable for everyone. The main thing amongst these factors is the safety of everyone who visits the park. This is essential for the children who use the play equipment of playgrounds. Playground designers should be careful about the design and installation of play equipment, they should ensure that the overall layout of the redeveloped playground stays compliant with the implemented safety standards.

However, it should not be so protective that it totally misses out on the factors like fun and adventure because children visit a playground to have fun and seek adventure. We have put together some details to help you understand what is required when you are working on a park redevelopment project. Further details are given below:

Don’t Take the Fun Factor Out of the Play Design:

We understand that there can be several safety hazards in a playground. Back in the 80s and 90s era, there were a lot of playgrounds with play equipment that was designed without any safety considerations. Things changed a lot back then, and authorities shut down a few old playgrounds because of safety concerns. There were new safety standards as well, which forced the playground designers and developers to come with design and equipment that lagged the fun and adventure factors. This lack of fun factor was enough to vanish the spirit of play and children’s interest in the playgrounds. However, in the modern days’ designers are continuously collaborating with the authorities to make modifications in the playground safety standards. These modifications have done a lot in bringing back the interest of children. As a designer, you need to make sure that you choose the play equipment that maintains the spirit of play while meeting the safety standards as well. Play equipment designers have worked a lot on combining both these factors to ensure the fun and adventure factors for the children who will be using the play equipment. Designers of a playground need to figure out the difference between hazards and foreseeable risks to come up with an adventurous and fun-filled design that can attract children towards it.  

What is a Hazard?

A hazard is something which is not pre-identifiable by the children and it may lead to the injury of a child. A hazard could be something like a hidden sharp edge in the body of a play equipment or a space where children may get trapped while playing. 

What is a Foreseeable Risk?

It is quite different to a hazard. It is something that is clearly visible to children and they can see there is a risk involved. However, it is the factor that creates a sense of adventure in the playground because after seeing a foreseeable risk, children build confidence and try to take on the challenge affiliated with it. For instance, a sway bridge with relatively open design represents a foreseeable risk.