PlayRight is the official Western Australian Local Government Association preferred supplier- for playground inspection and testing (2008 - 2011). For more information: www.walga.asn.au

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Definition

The term “Playground Compliance Audit” or “safety audit” is a one-time process that focuses on compliance with the current “Standard of Care”.

Purpose

The purpose of the safety audit is to identify and report on non-conforming and potenial hazards on and in the playground, equipment, designs, installation, maintenance and environmental conditions that could present unacceptable risk to children/users and to develop a systematic approach to removing dangerous equipment and/or make repairs according to risk analysis of each nonconforming condition.

Examples of non-conforming products and designs

Audit

The audit is a comprehensive document and detailed inspection of all items within the playground use zone and those items immediately adjacent and continuous to the playground.

Service

PlayRight Australia in compliance with the Australian/New Zealand playground Standards and a “Best Practice” approach has developed and endorsed a comprehensive audit checklist and document that will report and assist your agency in identifying a wide range of playground hazards and asset details including (but not limited to):

During a safety audit, hazards are categorized by their potential for causing severe injury. The resulting report will help you determine which hazards require immediate corrective action, which should be next on the list, and which are minor enough to allow corrective action as time and money permit.

The first day a new public playground opens for use is generally the last time that the playground owner/operation can feel somewhat confident that the entire area is safe and hazard free.

The first day also marks the beginning of the playground’s routine and preventative maintenance history. This includes timely inspections – and ultimately renovations and perhaps repairs – plus the continued compliance to current industry safety guidelines and standards”

Every playground should be assessed and inspected for Compliance and Safety.

Who should conduct a Compliance audit and Safety Inspection?

AS4486 states:
Individuals performing tasks such as assessment, inspections, repairs and maintenance as part of a safety management system shall be competent to do so. The level of competence required will vary with the task and training that may be necessary. Each person assigned a task shall be informed of the task, and their responsibility and authority. The operator shall ensure that each task is undertaken by a person competent to do so. Specialist skills may need to be sought for particular tasks.

It is recommended that your Playground Auditor be:

1. Certified Competent Playground Auditor and Safety Inspector. 2. Experienced with over 5 years in playground auditing (vs. inspecting) various equipment. 3. Experience in playground construction to have a knowledge of remedies. 4. Experienced and competent in the understanding and working knowledge of the rational of the standards since misinterpretations and conflicts abound. 5. Someone who will make an excellent witness for you in court. Including clear and concise record management. 6. Fully insured (Professional Indemnity and Public Liability). The insurance certificate/s shall specify exactly what the insurance cover is for i.e. Playground Auditor and Safety Inspection services.

Contact us for further information.

Frequency

The audit process is a critical part of playground management. Playground Audits are performed once on each piece of playground equipment and then again only if the equipment is relocated, damaged and repaired and/or modified at a later date. Generally Local Authorities will conduct Playground Audits annually to every 2 years.

* PlayRight Australia Pty Ltd emphasizes that this type of service is a thorough professional playground audit and is the most comprehensive report in accordance with the appropriate Australian/New Zealand Standards and Occupational Health and Safety Act.

* PlayRight Australia is fully equipped with the test measuring apparatus including head & neck entrapment probes.

Inspection and Maintenance Program

To maintain a ‘Standard of Care’ and to identify all new hazards on existing playgrounds maintenance inspections are conducted at regular intervals and focus on immediate hazards caused by various factors that contribute to the need for maintenance, such as:

Function of Inspections & Maintenance:

Benefits of a Good Playground Inspection & Maintenance Management Plan:

Every maintenance inspection program is unique. In developing your own program, you need to consider:

Be PRO-ACTIVE (prevent a problem) and Not REACTIVE (only correcting problems when they occur).

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PlayRight Australia in compliance with the Australian/New Zealand playground Standards and a “Best Practice” approach has developed and endorsed an operational checklist and document that will report and assist your agency in identifying a wide range of potential playground operational hazards and maintenance requirements.  The operational inspection will identify and check the operation and stability of the equipment, especially for any wear (e.g. components where wear could be expected such as bearings, moving and/or missing parts, vandalism and damage, loss of softfall, loose components etc).

Frequency of inspections available:

Post-Installation Audit and Safety Compliance Inspection

Post-installation Audit and inspections are provided to verify that each playground item and/or piece of equipment is ready for use and supplied and installed in compliance with the current Australian, Australian/New Zealand Standards, project brief and your Agency’s specification. 

Maintenance & Repairs

PlayRight Australia’s contracted maintenance and repair teams are available all hours and will action the required works and/or make the item/facility safe until materials and/or spare parts are ordered and available for installation.  Our competent and qualified playground maintainers carry out all works.  A detailed copy of the maintenance and repair works is provided to the Authority/owner at completion.

Note:  In order to retain warranties and conformity to the manufacturer’s guidelines, PlayRight recommends that replacement of equipment, parts and fitting is always with the identified playground manufacturer’s instructions, unless unavailable and/or or instructed otherwise.

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PlayRight and Sudden Impact

PlayRight Australia with over 25 years of experience in various aspects of the industry on a National level is uniquely qualified to provide expert assistance and guidance to clients in a wide range of playground compliance  assessments, safety inspections and now testing of all surfaces including; athletic, recreational, play and playground surfaces. 

* Sudden Impact - Surface Impact Testing is a subsidiary business of PlayRight Australia.  

The Triax2000

The Triax2000 surface impact test instrument has been through many years of rigorous engineering developments and has been used throughout the world to provide assurance to users of surfaces for protection from injuries.   

The Triax2000  is the only highly sophisticated portable free-fall playground surface testing system in the world. It meets the relevant International standards to determine performance of surfaces in the prevention of life-threatening and debilitating head injuries.

The test surface of impact absorbing materials are struck by an instrumented headform in a defined series of impacts from different fall heights.  The signal recorded by an acceleronmeter in the headform during each impact is processed to yield a level of severity from the measured impact energy.  The head injury criteria (HIC) and gmax values of each impact are plotted, and the critical fall height calculated.


The Severity of Injury— gmax and HIC

Medical studies have determined that a life threatening head injury is not likely if the gmax (maximum deceleration experienced during an initial impact) value does not exceed 200 and the HIC (Head Impact Criteria—impact severity on the brain) value does not exceed 1000.  For this reason, the maximum limits for impact absorption values in Standards have been set to these numbers.  This does not mean that injuries will not occur at lower values. 

Every effort should be made by playground providers to ensure that the surfacing under and around playgrounds never exceeds the maximum gmax and HIC values of 200 and 1000 from the height which a user is expected to impact the surface.  Applying due diligence, the owner/operator must determine the values that are acceptable with on-site testing for compliance.

Training and Qualifications

“Sudden Impact” inspectors are qualified, approved and certified for the operation of the test instrumentation-Triax2000. Professionally trained and assessed by the Certified International Triax2000 trainer, Rolf Huber (Canada). Ensuring clients are provided with experienced professional operators,  accurate test results, recording and reporting.

Sudden Impact Services

A critical element of playground surface compliance is the testing of the surface once it has been installed and during its use/lifetime. At each Inspection the Triaxial head is calibrated to ensure that the system records accurate measurements at each  and every inspection. 


Sudden Impact provides the following testing services to  clients:

• Loose Fill including sand, pine bark, pea gravel, shredded rubber etc.
• Synthetic or real grass.
• Rubber Surfaces, insitu, mats, tiles etc.
• Other recreational and sport surfaces.
• A comprehensive report detailing;
• Onsite drop-test results, compliance / non-compliance recording as per Standards, test and report requirements.
• Manufacturers Original Certificate and warranty comparison (if any).
• Condition rating, (loose fill, compacted depths etc)
• Test positions, drop height (effective fall height) and Images
• Surfacing fall zones and recommendations
• All aspects of Playground surfacing consultation and advice including specifications and minimum fall zones.

Key Benefits

• Protect the user
• Minimise and reduce the risk of injury
• Compliance and best practise with standards, contract terms/specifications and completed due diligence
• Manufacturers Conformance and  warranty authentication
• Qualified, Approved and Certified operators for the Triax  2000
• Accurate test results, recording and reporting
• Guidance and Recommendations.

Frequency of Testing

Frequency should be discussed as testing is likely to present a different set of conditions for each playground and should be tested for worst case results.

Frequency recommended;

Existing surfaces - Initial testing - Quarterly (seasonal) thereafter,
Frequency rationale based on initial testing for the following;
	Loose fill - bi-annual
	Solid / rubber - annual
	Post installation test on every new / replenished surface.

Due diligence requires that the user take all circumstances and aspects
into consideration as to minimum performance and best practice in
determining issues that relate to the management of risk.

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