What is this BS EN 1176‑1 - Playground equipment and surfacing about?
BS EN 1176‑1 discusses playground equipment and surfacing with a focus on general safety requirements and test methods. BS EN 1176‑1 is the first part of the BS EN 1176 multi-series that specifies general safety requirements for permanently installed public playground equipment and surfacing. Additional safety requirements for specific pieces of playground equipment are specified in subsequent parts of BS EN 1176‑1.
BS EN 1176‑1 covers playground equipment for all children. It has been prepared with full recognition of the need for supervision of young children and of less able or less competent children.
The purpose of BS EN 1176‑1 is to ensure a proper level of safety when playing in, on, or around playground equipment, and at the same time to promote activities and features known to benefit children because they provide valuable experiences that will enable them to cope with situations outside the playground. BS EN 1176‑1 is applicable to playground equipment intended for individual and collective use by children. It is also applicable to equipment and units installed as children's playground equipment although they are not manufactured as such, exclude those items defined as toys in EN 71 and the Toys Safety Directive.
Who is BS EN 1176‑1 - Playground equipment and surfacing for?
BS EN 1176‑1 on playground equipment and surfacing is useful for:
- Manufactures of playground equipment
- Contractors responsible for installing playground equipment
- Facility managers
Why should you use BS EN 1176‑1- Playground equipment and surfacing?
BS EN 1176‑1 on playground equipment and surfacing acknowledges the difficulties of addressing safety issues by age criteria alone because the ability to handle risk is based on the individual users' level of skills and not age. Also, users other than the intended age range will almost certainly make use of the playground equipment.
BS EN 1176‑1 provides principles of safety management that are applicable to both workplaces in general as well as to play provision. However, the balance between safety and benefits is likely to be different in the two environments. In play provision, exposure to some degree of risk might be of benefit because it satisfies a basic human need and gives children the chance to learn about risk and consequences in a controlled environment.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS EN 1176‑1:2017 supersedes EN 14960, which is withdrawn. BS EN 1176‑1:2017 includes some technical changes with respect to EN 14960.
These include:
- Figure 13 amended to show the direction of travel
- Clause 4.2.8.1 cross reference to Table 2 added
- Table 2 amended to clarify distinctions for climbing and hanging fall heights
- Figure 14 amended to include two types of net structure in fall height examples
- Clause 4.2.8.2.5 clarification of overlapping falling spaces added