Objects, no matter of what build up or mechanism, need to go through a time of maintenance - some, even more regularly than others. This is true for humans too, as we require the need to sleep everyday to repair ourselves. Playgrounds are no strangers to this fact either and they need to be kept in check to ensure their proper working order.
There are many risks and hazards involved if playgrounds are not maintained. They become unsafe for use by children, because the risk of malfunctioning is greatly increased every time they are put into use. As when children are concerned, with safety, the playground becomes boring as well, now that most of the equipment does not work or can become faulty at any given time. So today, we will discuss how you can keep the safety and fun levels high all the time for your playground.
€ Weekly scheduled inspections.
Having weekly inspections of your playground can minimize risks greatly. Scheduling them on a week by week basis rather than a monthly format comes with its advantages. You become more in tune with the playground yourself and quickly know which areas to go through and become quite thorough in your investigation.
Areas like the playground surfacing needs to be checked to see if it doesn't contain any shards or pointy objects that might cause harm to children or pets there. The same goes for the walking trail. Equipment like swing sets, slides and handing bars need to be checked for worn out or rusty patches, loose bolts and cracked parts. All of these should be noted down and rectified immediately.
€ Annually scheduled inspections.
Like weekly inspections, annual inspections should be carried out as well. The need for them, however, is minimized if you're regular in the checking and inspection of your playground on a weekly basis. But they are always recommended as bigger damages and changes can be fixed or made during this time.
Look out for vandalised equipment and make repairs accordingly. Areas like the underside of outdoor playground equipment and surrounding walls and fences are most susceptible to this sort of damage. Long term damages to the playground should be addressed too.
€ Fencing and Surfacing.
Surfacing is a very important part of every playground and it keeps the child safe during play and quality surfacing should always come with a 5-year warranty. So make sure you get yours from a good provider.
Damages in any of those should be kept in check along with the other aspects of a playground.
€ Play-structure chassis maintenance.
When buying playground equipment, make sure you're getting it from a reliable vendor or store so that you get a warranty on your products. A 3-year warranty is a must for every retailer so be sure to check out for those or others that offer longer guarantees.
Wooden parts of a play-structure should be kept under serious notice as well to ensure that they don't go through decay over the years.