Frequently asked questions
Q. What is BSI?
A. BSI is the UK’s National Standards Body. It has been developing standards for more than 100 years to make products and services safer and better for consumers. Standards set out good practice and guidelines for organizations to follow. BSI is a member of the European standards body, CEN.
Q. Is there a legal requirement to comply with the standard?
A. No, standards are voluntary, and organizations are not legally required to follow them. However, those that choose to comply with the standard are demonstrating a commitment to quality and safety. Adhering to the standard can satisfy insurers and show that an organization has taken all reasonable steps to reduce the risk of serious injury.
Q. How does BS EN 1176 benefit consumers?
A. BS EN 1176 can help consumers by raising standards in the quality and design of public play areas. If the play area used by your child complies with the standards you can rest assured that judgements, based on Europe wide expertise, have been carried out, to balance the risk of injury with the benefits of exciting play opportunities.
Q. How does compliance with BS EN 1176 benefit the play industry?
A. The standard acts as a checklist to ensure that organisations don’t forget any key safety points. If an accident happens, and the equipment involved carries a label stating that it meets the standard, the insurers and courts should be satisfied that the appropriate measures have been taken to set risks at the appropriate level to protect users. This label will also help operators source replacement parts when needed. Standards can be used in a court of law to provide a benchmark of best practice
Manufacturers/Suppliers
All playground equipment needs to be designed to address the risk of falls, lacerations and entrapment.
Structural strength Equipment should be strong and stable enough to support:
• Children of different ages and abilities
• Large groups of children using an item at the same time
• Adults who may need to gain access to help a child Protection against falling Design should address the risk of falls by:
• Reducing opportunities for very young or less able children to access equipment with steep or sudden differences in height. For example, by designing ladders with a higher first rung.
• Address the pushing and shoving by children at play on platforms by providing handrails, guardrails, barriers or narrow openings at higher levels.
• Assessing the equipment to remove hazards where possible (such as posts or beams) underneath high risk fall areas.
• Address the risk of head injuries resulting from falls by placing an Impact Attenuating (Absorbing) Surface (such as artificial surfaces, rubber tiles, tree bark) underneath high or moving equipment. Protection against entrapment There should not be any openings, moving parts, or protrusions, which could potentially trap hair, clothing, or body parts.
Protection against lacerations Equipment should not have:
• Sharp edges
• Rough surfaces that are likely to corrode or splinter
• Hard edges – these should be rounded or appropriately covered. Give clear instructions Play equipment should come with clear instructions to operators about how to:
• Install the equipment correctly
• Maintain or service the equipment
• Arrange repairs
Surfacing
BS EN 1177:2018 stipulates that manufacturers should carry out laboratory tests on a flat, rigid concrete. These are concrete base tests. Alternatively, we can test surfacing on a substrate of sufficient mass, density and thickness. Because these substrates would make no significant contribution to the test result.
You cannot meaningfully lab test products combined with natural materials that influence their performance (e.g. soil). Installers cannot use these grass base tests to indicate the performance of the product under other conditions or in other locations. For example, if surfacing is installed and tested on a clay-based soil. In this situation, it is almost certain that a greater critical fall height will be achieved under tests when the base is wet as opposed to when the base has been subject to a dry period.
Additionally, changes in levels of surfaces should not present hazard(s) to the users of the area.
When developing your playground, you should also check the Critical Fall Height of the surface. The CFH should be accurate, as stated on the test certificate. Additionally, this should be equal to or greater than the ‘free fall height’ of any playground equipment in the area. Playground equipment manufacturers will often specify the free fall height of their equipment within their brochures.
Playground Surfacing Critical Fall Height
According to European Standards EN 1177 (in the UK known as BS EN 1177) all Safety flooring is required for equipment with a critical fall height higher than 0.6m.
However, even for these areas under 0.6m, we will always advise that some protective surfacing should be laid. On the other hand, the maximal fall height on a playground is 3m, meaning that free height of a fall from any place on a playground should not exceed 3m.
In a nutshell, Critical Fall Height (CFH) is the distance from the highest piece of climbable equipment (3m max) to the surface floor. Once we know this we are able to calculate the depth of the base course required to ensure any fall minimises injury, allowing children to play in the safest possible environments.
Loose fill materials
For loose-fill materials the critical fall height has been determined by EN 1177 standard.
Due to the nature of loose-fill materials material loss has to be taken into account such as use from play and impact as well as wind and weather.
Because of these factors, loose materials have to be replenished occasionally. Another condition is that the minimal depth of the loose fill material is 30 cm.
