RoSPA Play Safety : FAQs
Why should I choose RoSPA?
Wherever children play RoSPA Play Safety is enhancing the quality of life by reducing injuries.
RoSPA Play Safety encompasses all areas where children play. The emphasis over the last few years has been on improving play area safety. In general, play areas in the UK are some of the safest places children can be. That does not mean that we can be complacent. Regular inspection and maintenance regimes, combined with RoSPA annual inspections, are still necessary to ensure that this trend continues.
Children play, however, in a variety of places other than equipped play areas and these pose much greater risks.
Background
Thousands of sports grounds, playing fields, parks and open spaces exist throughout the country and little thought is given to safety aspects associated with them.
These areas can range from large public parks in a town or city with a multitude of formal and informal activities and elements to a small grassed area within housing used for casual play. Many of these sites have been developed over a long period with changes introduced to reflect the changing trends in sport and play. In many cases the space used for recreation or sport has existed for 100 years or more and was originally just an open field. Many new playing fields were introduced in the 1920’s and 30’s following the establishment of the National Playing Fields Association. Prior to this our Victorian forebears had the foresight to provide parks where their “workers” and families could have some form of recreation. Since then the pressure to provide more housing to accommodate the increasing population, more leisure time and greater general participation has increased the pressure on existing spaces. The provision of new publicly available recreation space is lamentably short of that needed and has been, regrettably, due to the lack of foresight of successive governments. There is considerable concern over the increasing obesity and lack of fitness in children and yet many school playing fields are still being sold off to developers as a means of raising cash. This factor adds significantly to the pressures on existing recreation spaces.
The results of these continuing pressures are that often the safety aspects are overlooked. RoSPA strongly believes that these areas should be as safe as necessary – not as safe as possible. Taking this view RoSPA has, for a number of years, undertaken inspections and risk assessments for playing fields and public open spaces. There is now an even greater need for these to be considered. A number of the major insurance companies dealing with the public sector recognise the need for periodic Risk Assessments carried out by an independent organisation. RoSPA recommend that its specialist team carries out this work every four of five years unless major alterations to the site have been undertaken in the meantime. RoSPA recommend a rolling programme spread over three or four years (i.e. every area assessed every four or five years). This helps to spread costs over a reasonable period of time.
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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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