Play England, working with the
government departments leading on play, has published guidance
called Managing Risk in Play Provision: Implementation
guide.
The guide has been written for those
responsible for managing play provision, and for those involved in
designing and maintaining such provision. The general approach
should also be useful for those who manage other spaces and
settings in which children play:
Children need and want to take risks when
they play. Play provision should aim to respond to these needs and
wishes by offering children stimulating, challenging environments
for exploring and developing their abilities. In doing this those
responsible for play provision need to manage the level of risk so
that children are not exposed to unacceptable risks of death or
serious injury.
Managing
Risk in Play Provision: A Position statement
The guidance is designed to strike a balance
between the risks and the benefits of offering children challenging
play opportunities. Organisations including the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Accidents (RoSPA), have endorsed Managing Risk in Play
Provision and its approach to risk-benefit assessment.
The guide advises that although outside
expertise and advice is valuable, the ultimate responsibility for
decisions rests with the provider. It contains guidance on the
legal and policy context, the role of standards and guidance, how
to undertake a risk–benefit assessment, how to manage benefits and
risks, technical inspections and introduces the practice of dynamic
risk–benefit assessments used in staffed play provision.
In play provision staffed by skilled
playworkers, children may have opportunities for risk-taking not
possible in informally supervised or unsupervised settings. The
dynamic risk-benefit assessment refers to the minute-by-minute
observations and potential interventions of trained, skilled staff
where real time decisions are not readily amenable to being
documented.
The approach to risk outlined in Managing
Risk in Play Provision has been supported in a recent report
on health and safety by Lord Young entitled Common Sense,
Common Safety. The report recommended a shift from a system of
risk assessment to that of a risk benefit assessment. Lord Young
went on to recommend that the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 be
reviewed and that play and leisure should be seperated out from
other workplace contexts.
There are a number of organisations that offer
advice on health and safety and play. HSE is responsible for the
regulation of almost all the risks to health and safety arising
from work in the UK. RoSPA has an extensive range of information
sheets on different aspects of health and safety in children’s
playgrounds.
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Tools and information
Myth of the month HSE calendar with cartoons to show how misleading stories can detract people from managing health and safety risks sensibly. Includes several on children’s play, for example the December 2008 myth that children were banned from throwing snowballs.
Dynamic risk assessment Playwork Partnerships general information and guidelines for play rangers and tutors includes an example of how the Dynamic Risk Assessment process can be applied to playwork settings.
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Organisations
RoSPA Provides information on playground management and the safety of indoor and outdoor play areas.