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Playground Maintenance & Inspection

WHY ARE PLAYGROUND INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE IMPORTANT?

Play equipment and surfacing wear with use, climate and abuse. Because of this, they must be inspected on a regular basis. There are many benefits to properly maintaining your equipment:

Manage Risk

Timely, routine maintenance is a way of managing risks in a community’s play areas. Protect patrons from costly accidents by demonstrating the community’s standard of care while you lower your liability.

Protect Your Investment

Play structures, safety surfacing, shade, and site development are significant investments for any company or municipality. It simply makes good economic sense to maintain the equipment and extend the life of your organization’s investment.

Improve Children’s Play Experiences

When play equipment is broken or otherwise unusable, children lose out on opportunities for play. That moment of learning with others and fun-filled connection is lost forever. The better maintained the equipment, the better the opportunity that a child’s life is improved through play. Your effort makes the difference!

Promote Community Values

A major source of pride for any community is their well maintained common green space. Taking care of playground, outdoor fitness, dog park equipment and site amenities maintains a beautiful environment and is an expression of your community’s values.

Control Expenses

Timely, preventive routine maintenance controls expenses by reducing upkeep and replacement costs, enabling more accurate budgeting

MAINTENANCE PROCESS AND INSPECTION FREQUENCY

What is the Process for Playground Inspection?

When new play equipment is installed or at the introduction of a new playground safety and maintenance program, it is a good idea to have an audit performed by a Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI). Every piece of equipment Adventure Playground Installers install is supplied with an initial audit as part of the final walk through. Customers are supplied with in depth maintenance instructions and our Adventure Play Experts are happy to set up a training for your staff to ensure proper maintenance. An audit performed on older equipment will note conditions that are not compliant with current industry standards and will form the basis for a systematic program of removal, repair, and/or retrofit.

 

How Often Should a Playground Be Inspected?

The frequency of inspection will be determined by many factors including equipment age, frequency of use, materials; as well as, external factors like the average age of users, local climate, and vandalism. Regardless of site-specific aspects of your playground, two types of inspections should be performed throughout the year: low frequency and high frequency.

Low-Frequency Inspections

Low frequency inspections are in-depth investigations of the equipment and surfacing looking for wear and tear, often performed quarterly or semi-annually. This inspection requires a staff member with mechanical knowledge and/or extensive knowledge about play equipment and surfacing standards. During or immediately after the inspection, preventive maintenance, repairs and/or removal of damaged equipment should be done to fix any problems discovered.

An example of this type of maintenance might be replacing heavily worn belt seats or chains that were noted during the inspection. Click here for a sample inspection form and corresponding codes to use on the form. Not sure you staff the right person for the job? Give Adventure Playground Systems a call and we’ll walk you through it.

 

High-Frequency Inspections

High-frequency inspections look at frequently changing conditions caused by use, weather, and/or vandalism. Often performed daily or weekly, a high frequency inspection checks and corrects playground conditions such as loose-fill surfacing depths, sanitation issues, and the presence of debris. If anything is discovered, follow your organization’s procedures such as completing documentation, taking the area out of use, and/or correcting the problem. Click here for a sample inspection form and corresponding codes to use on the form.

What Inspection Forms Do We Need?

Reports detailing inspections, maintenance, and repairs may be invaluable for accessing ongoing maintenance, budgeting, and staffing needs. They will also come in handy when designing new green space and future play equipment expansions. Download your copy of the full Playground Inspection & Maintenance Guide from our manufacturing partner, Playcore below. Tailor inspection forms to meet the site and policy specific needs of your organization. Because of the variances within every site, these forms should not be considered as comprehensive lists of playground hazards or maintenance requirements, but a starting point. Contact Adventure Playground Systems for an in-depth audit of your site.

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