Child safety experts welcome ‘game-changing’ new international benchmark that gives a green light to more adventurous play!
A ground-breaking new global industry benchmark that takes a ‘benefit-risk’ approach to safety was today [5 July 2023] welcomed by the UK Play Safety Forum, a group of leading experts which supported the drafting of the document.
Instead of focusing solely on risk reduction, the benchmark says that councils, businesses, and others should take a balanced approach to safety in playgrounds and other leisure facilities. Crucially, they should consider the benefits of allowing a degree of risk and challenge.
‘Benefit-risk assessment for sports and recreational facilities, activities and equipment’ - Standard BS ISO 4980:2023 from the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) - is a globally-recognised standard for anyone that runs leisure and recreation facilities and programmes, including playgrounds.
Tim Gill, Chair of the UK Play Safety Forum, said: “This new safety standard is a game-changing move for children, who have been losing out for far too long because of misplaced adult fears and anxieties.”
Andy Yates, Technical Director of Hags UK and chair of both British and European playground safety standards committees, said, “Children of all ages and abilities actively seek out risky situations in their play. The ISO standard gives guidance about how these risks are judged, hand in hand with the benefits they provide. This should give playground operators further confidence to create the exciting, engaging play spaces that children want, need and deserve.”
Prof David Ball of Middlesex University, one of the experts on the ISO working group, said: “This ISO standard builds on a decades-long shift towards more balanced, thoughtful risk management. The Play Safety Forum first put forward risk benefit approaches in 2008, and they have been supported by the Health and Safety Executive – the UK’s overarching safety regulator – since 2012. With this new ISO standard, the rest of the world is set to follow suit.”
Anita Grant, Chair of Play England said, “After the restrictions and reductions in children's freedoms and experiences during the pandemic we welcome this focus on the benefits of play. We hope this industry standard will encourage proper discussion and planning with children’s right to play at the very forefront of decision making.”
Notes for editors
The UK Play Safety Forum is a membership organisation that aims to ensure a balance between safety, risk and challenge in children’s play and leisure provision. Its members include the charities Play England, Play Scotland, Play Wales and Playboard Northern Ireland. More about the PSF here.
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is an independent non-governmental organisation based in Geneva that develops global standards for markets and industries. Its membership is made up of over 160 national standards bodies such as the British Standards Institute.