NZ takes hold of standards in playground

New safety standards for playground equipment will replace American regulations which were dumped for being too boring and expensive.

The new standards cover play equipment at school and community facilities and private homes, but exclude amusement rides, commercial climbing walls, trees, water slides and trampolines.

The American standards were introduced in 2001 and then dropped after about two-thirds of 460 public submissions criticised them as being too soft, too boring and unsuitable for New Zealand conditions.

A spokeswoman for Standards New Zealand said many objections were based on the perception the US regulations would be tight to avoid legal action by parents of injured children.

Critics claimed the US standards would make play equipment too low to be challenging. The new draft regulations set the general maximum free-fall height at 2.2m, unless otherwise specified for particular equipment, and 1.5m for early-childhood facilities.

The Early Childhood Council also rejected the interim standards as being too expensive and likely to put struggling preschools out of business.

Council chief executive Sue Thorne said the regulations were so restrictive no one would be able to afford to build new equipment.

The American standards, designed for children aged from 2 to 12 in unsupervised public playgrounds, were dropped in August last year when work began on the new set.

Standards New Zealand project manager Ruth Heather said the new regulations would provide children with a greater challenge while maintaining acceptable safety levels.

Inclusions cover requirements for children with disabilities and for supervising adults with disabilities.

Playground safety requirements were introduced in this country in 1986 after research showed that more than 1000 children a year were hospitalised for playground-related injuries.

Playgrounds were transformed.

Hard surfaces were out and bark chips in, and padding appeared on the playground equipment.