RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
November 8, 2004
NEW AWARD SCHEME TO CUT PLAY AREA INJURIES
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has launched a new awards scheme to make children’s play areas throughout the UK safer and more exciting.
More than 38,000 children are injured seriously enough on playgrounds each year to have to go to hospital.
David Yearley, RoSPA’s Play Safety Manager, said: “Many of those accidents are unavoidable because of the way children play. Children need some risk in their play to help them to learn and to develop.
“But everything possible should still be done to ensure play areas are well managed and that equipment is safe to use. For instance, about 15 per cent of all falls are due to children tripping over small projections and unevenness in surfacing, which is inexpensive to remedy.
“We hope our new awards scheme will challenge local authorities, businesses and organisations with responsibility for playgrounds and indoor play areas to try even harder to prevent accidents.
“One of the best ways to promote safety and encourage good management practice is to reward those who head the field and lead by example. These awards will allow authorities and organisations to prove to themselves and others that they take young people’s safety seriously.”
The RoSPA Play Quality Awards will demonstrate commitment to providing exciting, high-quality play facilities, which include provision for disabled people. There are two categories: Play Operator Awards for local authorities and other organisations who operate play areas, and Individual Site Awards.
The Play Operator Awards will be graded at gold, silver, bronze and merit levels. Judges will consider issues such as commitment to stimulating play, competence of staff, maintenance and inspection procedures.
The individual site awards will use a star-rating scheme, with five stars for the best. There will be an Enterprise Award for sites which may be prevented from meeting all criteria because of geographical limitations, for example, on disabled access.
Any organisation running play areas can apply - from parish to county councils, community groups, charities, education authorities, indoor play providers and commercial operations.
More details can be found at www.rospa.com/playawards or by telephoning the awards manager on 01367 820988. RoSPA runs an inspection service, checking around 13,000 play areas a year.
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RoSPA is a registered charity: Registered Charity No: 207823 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen RoSPA Head Office: Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK |
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