PROPERTY |
Playground Safety
Safety is fundamental It won’t come as a shock that schools are required to make sure their playgrounds comply with safety standards. What might come a more of a surprise is that these standards do change, from time to time, and it’s important to keep your school playground update and fully compliant. The Ministry of Education (MoE) has outlined that that board of trustees is ultimately responsible for designing, building and upgrading playgrounds and providing playground equipment. Regular maintenance is key to keeping on top of the situation. Schools must also use board funding to build a playground. This funding may come from fundraising, grants from trusts and community groups, or bequests. Schools will still need to obtain Ministry consent to use board funding for property
projects like playgrounds. The MoE specifies: “You or your project manager should contact the local council to find out whether your planned playground needs building consent. Even if it does not require building consent, you must still get this advice in writing from the council and keep it in the project file for future reference.”
Building or upgrading a playground… In many ways, this is the fun part: choosing and designing a funfilled, engaging playground that is conducive to impactful learning and positive stress relief for students is an exciting prospect. Many schoolchildren would envy the task: designing a playground? Surely that’s the dream job. Of course, designing a playground is more complex than a child might imagine. A property manager or specialist supplier/
manufacturer will be eager to discuss available options with you, and aid in the process but the main focus must be adhering to government standards. In New Zealand, what you need to look for is called the New Zealand Standard 5828:2015: Playground equipment and surfacing. Standards NZ has a comprehensive website explaining compliance and there is also a handbook that can be purchased.
Style and safety The two concepts might not ordinarily be associated with one another, but playgrounds bridge the gap. In this realm, generally, the safer the playground the more stylish it looks. If you imagine an ‘unsafe’ playground, it’ll be one that’s not properly maintained or cleaned, is broken and filthy, with something like a hard concrete floor or trip hazard weeds. Not so pretty and
certainly not safe. You could also place more dangerous playground equipment in this category – dirt tracks for bikes, or skate ramps. The MoE refers to items like trampolines and skate tracks as “high risk” and notes: “When deciding what type of equipment to install, consider whether it will affect your ability to provide a safe environment for your students.” Fully compliant playgrounds have to be properly maintained, neat and tidy. Surfacing is vital and there are a variety of options to consider, with different pros and cons, from wood-chip or bark mulch to artificial grass, sand and soft fall. The latter is a type of brightly coloured rubber, usually recycled, that can be installed in different patterns or designs but may pose risk when very wet or in high temperatures. Wood-chip or bark mulch has its own pleasingly natural aesthetic
The importance of suitable surfacing “Goodfall playground surfacing provides impact protection for falls on playgrounds, minimising the risk of injury,” explains Goodwood marketing manager, Felia Frei. “Schools are facing more pressure to comply with the safety standard NZS5828:2015. At Goodwood, we supply a measure and quote service as well as on-site supply and install options. Our product is manufactured by Goodwood in our own manufacturing yard, giving us full quality control.” “Regular checks and maintenance of equipment and surfacing is how we recommend schools work on playground safety. We can provide our clients with
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schoolnews Term 2 - 2018
“What is the average quantity a school would order for a top-up?” Generally 25 to 60; a general top up is approx. 100mm, but some schools will have multiple playgrounds to top up, and again they vary in size.
information on how to identify hazards in the playground and have a standard inspection checklist which can be used in regular checks. The most important thing to check for Goodfall is that it is at the recommended depth of 300mm or 250mm compacted. Additionally, there have been increased reports of vandalism,
so schools should check their playgrounds on a daily basis for any potential hazards. “What is the average quantity a school would order for a full playground fill?” For a new install, this could be anything between 50m³ and 100m³ on average because playgrounds vary so much in size.
“What is the number one playground safety feature that schools care about when they order a product?” The fall height for Goodfall is up to 3m and many of the senior primary school playgrounds or confidence courses, and intermediate schools are likely to have a fall height of over 2m. One thing we can mention is that 80 percent of student injuries on playgrounds are caused by ‘fall’ accidents. The importance of having a suitable surfacing and maintaining it is not to be underestimated.