Playground Safety in Australia
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Fall from a horizontal track ride kills boy - Perth, Western Australia. Find out more...
The internationally accredited training for Australian playground professionals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the University of Technology Sydney have jointly run courses on-Campus and also off-Campus at the specific request of several Local Government Authorities including the Hobart City Council, Adelaide City Council, Brisbane City Council, Urban Services ACT, Pine Rivers City Council, Redland Shire Council, City of Onkaparinga and Gold Coast City Council. We have also provided training to inspectors within State Government Agencies such as Licensing & Standards within the South Australian Department of Education & Childrens Services. These courses continue to receive positive feedback from participants, their supervisors and the Government Authorities. We also offer courses tailored to the individual needs of our clients.
In conjunction with the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) UTS:Engineering offers regular short courses on playground safety, design, maintenance and inspection. These courses are offered both on University’s campus and at client provided venues around Australia. Courses tailored to the individual needs of clients are also offered.
| Course Titles and Dates 2008 | ||
| Designing Play Equipment and Playgrounds for Compliance Course (2 Days) |
Accredited Playground Inspectors Course - Routine Inspection Level 1 (1 Day) |
Accredited Playground Inspectors Course - Operational Inspection Level 2 (3 Days) |
| Click on the course dates below for full course details, timings, booking forms and prices. | ||
| Course dates coming soon | Course dates coming soon | Course dates coming soon |
Other Information
- Recently published injury data (Monash University - Victorian Injury Surv eillance Unit) (
PDF format 385kb) confirms that the hospital admission rate for children in Australia from playground equipment falls has increased over the last decade - Child injury due to falls from playground equipment, Australia 2002–04 ( PDF format 112kb)
Yvonne LM Helps, Sophie C Pointer October 2006
This report examines Australian hospital separations and deaths data for injuries coded as being due to unintentional falls involving playground equipment, which were sustained by children aged 0–14 years of age, in the reporting period July 2002-June 2004.
The implication of this is that the inspection of playgrounds will be able to be conducted consistently and to an internationally recognized, verified and achievable risk management level that has shown strong evidence of preventing both the frequency and severity of playground injuries.
Countries such as the UK where an international level playground inspectors training program has been in place for a number of years have a far lower incidence of playground related childhood injuries. Various counties and regions within particular countries acquire and count injury data differently. Notwithstanding, whichever way you count the frequency and severity of injuries, countries such as Australia and New Zealand that do not have an international recognized standard for playground inspection and inspectors have a significantly higher rate of injury. When measured on a percentage of population this rate is between 500% and 700% greater than countries such as the UK where RoSPA has been training and accrediting professional playground inspectors for many years.
- Code of Ethics for RoSPA Accredited Playground Inspectors ( PDF format 19kb)
- Register of Accredited Australian Playground Inspectors
The individuals listed within the Register of Accredited Australian Playground Inspectors have been certified as Accredited Australian Playground Inspectors. They have been examined and found competent to carry out playground inspections in accordance with the requirements of Australian and New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 4486.1:1997. These individuals have undertaken to abide by the Code of Ethics for RoSPA Accredited Playground Inspectors and are personally responsible for the quality of their work. Inclusion on the Register of Accredited Australian Playground Inspectors does not guarantee the suitability of those included to work in an environment where children may be present.
Contact Us
If you would like further information on playground safety short courses conducted in Australia, please contact:
A/Professor David Eager
Faculty of Engineering
University of Technology Sydney
PO Box 123, Broadway NSW 2007, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9514 2687
Fax: +61 2 9514 2665
Email: David.Eager@uts.edu.au
Web: www.eng.uts.edu.au/~deager
Click here for some recent publications by A/Professor Eager on children’s safety, children’s playgrounds and impact attenuation.
Short courses in playground safety offered by UTS:Engineering.
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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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