A SafeWork SA campaign targeting nature playgrounds in metropolitan Adelaide has led to more than 60 improvement and prohibition notices being issued.

The campaign, which was conducted last year and published this month, involved 49 playground audits resulting in 64 non-compliance notices.

These included two prohibition notices that effectively closed the playgrounds until the issues were addressed and 62 improvement notices.

Inadequate maintenance of installed play equipment (37), lack of hazard identification (9), inadequate loose fill (8) and lack of annual inspections (7) were the areas of concern that attracted the highest numbers of improvement notices.

The Nature Play and Playground Proactive Compliance Project was in response to numerous serious playground or nature play injuries at schools that were reported to SafeWork SA from July 2018 to June 2021.

SafeWork SA’s records captured 166 notifications relating to nature play or playground incidents consisting of 105 notifications within the metropolitan area, and 61 notifications in the regional area.

One incident involved the amputation of a student’s finger, one involved a partial amputation of a student’s finger, and another involved a serious spinal injury.

Nature play areas provide children with play activities in outdoor settings where natural elements feature. These spaces are often incorporated into community playgrounds.

As awareness increases on the benefits of children's contact with nature, many schools, childcare centres and businesses are embracing the idea of developing a nature play space and playground.

SafeWork SA Acting Executive Director Glenn Farrell said the rise in popularity of nature play demanded increased scrutiny of safety, particularly following some avoidable serious injuries.

‘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,’ he said.

‘These are places where the public should feel safe, without unreasonable risk to children’s’ health and safety.’

The report recommended SafeWork SA should:

• Consider a follow-up audit of public and private school playgrounds in the SA metropolitan area utilising the same audit tool used for this campaign.
• Conduct an audit of the playground area in any childcare facility which SafeWork SA receives a complaint about in 2023, utilising the same audit tool used for this campaign.
• Provide a presentation to a number of industry sectors  to advise them of the key trends identified.
• Publish the report, including the audit tool on the SafeWork SA website.

Further links

• Nature Play and Playground Campaign Closure Report