More than 60 improvement and prohibition notices have been issued by SafeWork SA in the safety body’s blitz on playgrounds.
The 2022 campaign was aimed at ensuring playgrounds in metro Adelaide were up to snuff, and involved 49 audits and yielded 64 non-compliance notices.
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Two of these notices resulted in playgrounds being effectively closed until addressed, while 62 were served subsequent improvement notices.
Inadequate maintenance was the biggest offender during this campaign, accounting for 37 of the notices. Lack of hazard identification (nine notices), inadequate loose fill (eight) and lack of annual inspections (seven) followed.
“Play space owners have a duty to ensure the hazards and risks associated with the use of playground equipment are identified and that adequate safety measures are in place to eliminate or minimise the risk,” SafeWork SA Acting Executive Director Glenn Farrell said.
“These are places where the public should feel safe, without unreasonable risk to children’s’ health and safety.”
The report concluded that SafeWork SA would need to undertake a number of follow-ups.
This included a possible audit of public and private school playgrounds in the Adelaide metropolitan area. It also recommended conducting audits on any childcare facility which receives a complaint in 2023.
For more information on the report, visit www.safework.sa.gov.au.