Playground equipment safety

‘Playground equipment’ is any permanently fixed item used for indoor or outdoor play. Examples include climbing frames, swings, slides, and roundabouts. This equipment can be used indoors, too, and similar precautions will be needed.

Most organisations that provide play equipment will have specific responsibilities under health and safety law. This includes general duties set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.

You may need to:

• Make sure that the equipment complies with relevant standards when purchased and is properly installed
• Complete a risk assessment if you are an employer, to identify the precautions you need to take
• Implement adequate precautions, providing information and training for any staff to ensure that it is used safely
• Make periodic checks and regular inspections to ensure that it remains safe to use
• Document your arrangements and responsibilities for preventing accidents with play equipment, perhaps as part of your health and safety policy, where one is required to comply with health and safety law
• Keep records of what you have done.

Any equipment provided needs to meet the required standards and be properly installed.

The two main standards associated with playground equipment are:

• BS EN 1176: Playground Equipment and Surfacing
• BS EN 1177: Impact Attenuating Playground Surfacing, Determination of Critical Fall Height.

BS EN 1176 is not retrospective. So, older equipment might meet previous standards such as BS 5696 or DIN 7926. For other items, organisations may need to look for evidence that it has undergone third-party testing (for example, equipment may carry a TüV certificate or a BSI Kitemark).

For more information on managing the risk from playground equipment, why not download our guide?