Keeping Playground Equipment Safe
Mar 23, 2012
Most caravan parks have outdoor children’s play equipment on their parks and, whilst these are fantastic for keeping children visiting the park happy, they also carry the potential for an accident and also a dreaded claim against the park.
It is therefore important that the equipment is professionally checked and certified as being safe at the beginning of each season. If any parts are found to be defective these should be repaired / replaced as soon as possible and access to the area restricted until the repairs have been effected. It is also very useful to keep accurate records of this process as it can be used as part of your defence if a child is subsequently injured using the equipment.
However, it is important to remember that the annual inspection of play equipment is only part of the story. In order to defend any actions you need to demonstrate a robust system of checking and reporting. In essence you need to create a weekly checklist for the play equipment which can record/report faults and also the action taken to rectify any such faults.
Many of you will already be carrying out such inspections but unfortunately, unless you document such checks, your defence is seriously undermined by the lack of documentation. If you have up to date inspection and rectification records you will be able to demonstrate that the equipment was in correct working order at the time of the incident which gives your insurers chance to defend any action brought against you with regard to play equipment.
It is also useful to take photographs of the equipment on a regular basis as this will demonstrate the condition of the equipment at a given time which may help to refute any allegations that the accident was caused by certain parts of the equipment being missing.
Unfortunately, if you haven’t documented your checks and actions you haven’t done them in the eyes of the law.
