Legal advice: Safety for children's play areas

The exceptionally good weather during April has brought us all out into our gardens and to outdoor areas much earlier than usual in order that we may enjoy al fresco living.

I don't know about you, but I really didn't have time to check over my garden furniture after the winter months. I rather assumed all would be well but decided that if my lounger chair had rotted through and I sat on it and it collapsed, then I'd probably hurt my back but no real harm would be done - hopefully. But then again, I don't have any customers who might want to sue me.

So it's never too late for a timely reminder to check over all garden furniture and in particular children's play equipment.

Accidents do happen…

According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents more than 40,000 injuries to children occur each year in playgrounds and on play equipment. It is, therefore, vitally important to carry out routine safety checks and inspections and, as always, record your actions.

Understandably, people are protective towards young children and the tendency to blame someone and sue if things go wrong is increasing year on year. Children's play equipment, whether inside the pub or outside it, must be regularly inspected by competent persons.

As a licensee you are responsible for the safety of people who visit your premises, including children. In particular, if you provide equipment such as play equipment for them to use, then you must ensure that it is safe.

Accidents that cause injury to people may need to be reported to the local authority. It could mean that an offence has been committed under general health and safety law if equipment or procedures were considered unsafe.

Child safety is a vitally important part of your health and safety management plan. Children are less likely to understand hazards and therefore the safety precautions needed to protect them are higher than for adults.

What are the legal requirements?

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 applies to all premises in which people are employed and to which people have cause to visit. Children's play areas are covered by the requirements to ensure equipment is well maintained and safe to use.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require risk assessments to be carried out and significant hazards from any activity reduced and the findings recorded.

Faulty equipment or failure to have a safe system of work could lead to fines of either £5,000 or £20,000 per offence. Failure to have adequate risk assessments carries a fine of up to £5,000. The level of fine depends on which court hears the offence.

What needs to be done?

You must ensure that all play equipment and play areas are safe, well maintained and free, as far as is reasonably practicable, from hazards.

Outdoor play equipment

A combination of the weather and the way children use the equipment can lead to hazardous conditions.

In addition, equipment can be misused and vandalised by adults, particularly at night. Equipment made defective in this way can then present a serious risk of injury to users.

Daily visual checks are required prior to opening the area. Generally, you need to ensure:

• The play area is free of broken glass, debris, animal faeces, etc
• Equipment has no loose parts, broken parts, protruding nails, bolts
• Entrances and exits to the equipment are safe and unobstructed
• Absorbent surfaces are in place and undamaged, for example soft bark or rubber matting
• Hazard warning notices are displayed.

A daily checklist should be completed and completed checklists must be kept in a record book or file.

Checks also need to be carried out during the day as the state of the equipment can change.

Parents need to be informed, by advisory notice, that they are responsible for supervising their children and glasses must not be taken into play areas. Provide plastic beakers.

Indoor play areas and equipment

Indoor children's play areas are often referred to as 'soft play' areas because all equipment and surfaces are padded so as to help reduce the possibility of injury.

Although statistically safer than 'hard play' areas, accidents do still occur and injuries can be very serious for example broken limbs or severe bruising.

These injuries are often caused by the method of play of the children rather than by the equipment.

Children become boisterous and run and bump into each other. Sometimes too many children congregate in certain areas.

So some sort of supervision in indoor play areas is advisable. At the very least you should control the numbers of children using the equipment.

Daily visual checks are needed prior to the opening of the play area. Ensure the area and equipment are:

• Clean and tidy
• Well protected with secure padding, structurally sound and stable
• Properly maintained without any loose parts
• Clearly signed with minimum and maximum height restrictions.

Equipment must be used in accordance with manufacturer's instructions and be suitable for the purpose. In particular, ball ponds must:

• Have adequate ball depth of 18 inches to 24 inches (45 to 60cm)
• Have all balls available
• Be clean and disinfected
• Have no broken balls.

A daily checklist for indoor play equipment should be used and completed copies kept in a file.