Kids, just like adults, need a place to vent out their frustrations and play their hearts out. Kids need entertainment and news, but their entertainment must be in a safe environment and creating high-quality outdoor things. Here are some of the aspects of a safe playground.
A safe playground has enough adult supervision. Adults make sure the children use the resources available to them is a safe environment. In case an injury occurs, an adult supervisor will know what to do. If the injury is serious, their quick reaction can help in preventing further damage. Young kids cannot gauge things like distances heights, and are therefore ill equipped to gauge potentially dangerous situations. The older kids like to test the limits and take risks. It is important that an adult be in their presence to control them.
Playground inspection is also necessary to keep the playground safe. Inspection deals with the design of the playground, with factors such as surfaces, spacing, safety and maintenance.
When inspecting surfaces, inspectors realize that kids will likely fall. When they do, the surface should be soft enough to reduce the damage on impact. This is especially important where there is a lot of activity, like under swings and at the edges of seesaws and slides. Here are some of the most common aspects of surfacing to consider. Surface materials like asphalt, concrete and blacktop are extremely unsafe and should not be accepted. The compound should not have standing water, or any debris that kids might trip over and fall. There should be no dangerous materials like broken glass and nails or screws. Drop testing by professionals can help determine the safety of the kids.
Another aspect of playground equipment Sydney inspection is spacing. In the safest playgrounds, the areas are divided according to age group. In the safest playgrounds, younger children have their own designated areas. The signs are clear and conspicuous to prevent confusion. Equipment choice should also be divided by to age groups, giving young children complex equipment, or smaller equipment to older children is a recipe for injury.
Other aspects of spacing and equipment safety are the inclusion of rails and protective barriers, which must be included in any platforms that are higher than 30 inches. Any structures that are higher than the designated 30 inches must be more than 9 feet apart. There should be adequate spacing for any playground equipment with moving parts. They must be checked for pinch parts that could pinch, scratch or crush children’s fingers.
Educating the kids on playground safety once they are old enough is also important. However much the playground is inspected, there is still the danger of an overzealous child getting themselves in danger. Once the kids are old enough, they should be taught about playground safety and the consequences of their actions. If they understand the importance of staying safe while having fun, they can take care of younger children in their playgroups and make it easier for supervisors, teachers and parents.
Playground safety should be the collective effort of all stakeholders; education policymakers, teachers, playground designers, and parents.