Inspection of ancillary items
Vandalism is something that concerns the public, since the breakage of ancillary items located near playgrounds can be major risk points during play due to their proximity. Assessing the safety of all these elements, such as fences, access gates, benches, fountains, etc. located within the perimeter or around the playground, can prevent certain incidents.
All ancillary items used as part of our playground must be risk assessed, and in this case, we use the European technical standard EN 1176 as a tool, especially part 1 of the standard, as they may be part of the playground itself and may be used as playing elements. The main risks we encounter are possible entrapments, crushes, cuts, etc. due either to inadequate design or insufficient inspections and maintenance.
Using technical regulation UNE EN 1176 part 1, we assess the safety of such items. Our knowledge in safety assessment, fundamental to avoid unacceptable risks in fences for example, which is the most basic example we can find in our play areas . It is fundamental to perform a risk assessment in order to diagnose their safety.
Services relating to the inspection of street furniture
We are accredited by ENAC (a member of ILAC) for the inspection and certification of children’s playgrounds, according to applicable European standards, such as:
EN 1176-1 “Playground Equipment and Surfacing. Part 1: General Safety Requirements and Test Methods.”
What are the benefits of inspecting and adapting street furniture to safety requirements?
The fact that we can inspect this type of ancillary items avoids unforeseeable injuries, and it also encourages communication between all parties involved in the purchase of ancillary items and playground equipment, thereby avoiding the installation of products that are not safe for children and products which, although they comply with the technical building code, may not be safe for children once they have been installed inside the playground.
Our experience in the inspection of street furniture
Thanks to our accreditation according to reference standard UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17020 “Conformity Assessment: Requirements for the operation of different types of inspection bodies”, allows us to assess all aspects related to the design of the actual ancillary items , as well as problems arising from inadequate installation or maintenance, using our experience, knowledge, internal risk assessment procedures and technical standard EN 1176 part 1.
