PLEASE NOTE; We are only doing "virtual" inspections for litigation cases using ZOOM (or other virtual platforms). You may be interested in using us for Design and Planning services. Below is some helpful information that you might find useful. Thank you!
Click here for label information, requirements, references, etc. concerning Safety Signs/Labels.
Scott Burton is one of the original Certified Playground Safety Inspectors (CPSI), and is also S.A.F.E. certified!
Your liability is far less if you find out ahead of time what your hazards are and make an overall plan to get them corrected! Playground rules have been out since 1981!
We have performed playground safety inspections / audits at OVER 3,000 SITES so far, with a variety of equipment at each site, which makes it literally THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of pieces of equipment that have been inspected / audited, inside and outside of the USA!
Inspections are "routine maintenance inspections" that are performed on a frequency based upon factors such as type of equipment, age, vandalism, use, etc., usually by your own qualified personnel as an on-going process. Inspections are commonly performed, yet the most hazardous points that are being missed are found only in an audit! So, "Inspections" are NOT "Audits".
Audits are extremely detailed reports that discover hazards that are not being found in typical inspections. A professional audit lists hazards in a priority manner so that you can get underway with a safety plan. This allows you to handle the most dangerous conditions first, and then the others, or you can budget for the others later if you must. Audits are generally performed once per year on each piece of equipment (as opposed to inspections that are done more frequently and check for a far lesser amount of things), and again if the equipment becomes modified, moved, or has pieces added to it later. Audits should also be performed whenever the rules are revised.
Your staff, even if Certified Inspectors, may detect only so much, like anyone else, for a number of different reasons. They may have been "out of the loop" of playground safety compared to an expert in the field. The Standards and Guidelines may have been updated, and your inspectors may not have been trained on the latest updates. The Standards and Guidelines can be difficult to interpret correctly, and they are contradictory on some issues. There are a LOT of rules found in CPSC that are not found in the ASTM Standards, and vice versa! Your inspectors may not have the experience that it takes to be able to properly design a specific modification that will pass all of the tests. Quite frequently, one hazard might be created by fixing another, and it is left undetected! Having a third party audit / inspection helps eliminate "biased self-inspection" accusations.
Has the manufacturer or installer promised to supply equipment that complies with the Standards and/or Guidelines? If they HAVE promised compliance and you want to be certain that there are no hazards, a 3rd party inspector can check the plans, designs, and/or site itself to see if any hazards exist and help you to get them corrected!
LIABILITIES FOR OWNERS; you are STILL liable if you choose NOT to have an audit or inspection performed and be told about the hazards. This is because you are in the "business" of providing this equipment and will face the claim that you "knew or should have known" about those hazards. Also, you are liable if you know of a hazard and do nothing at all, and should make the attempt to get the hazards corrected. If you are concerned about liability for fixing the hazards, hire an outside contractor to do it and "transfer" that liability!
WARRANTEES should NOT be void on equipment that you DO NOT modify. If they are, this tells you something about the supplier. FOR EXAMPLE; if one of many pipes break on one component (say, one pipe rung on an Arch Climber), and you replace the one pipe (by hiring a local welder to come out and do it for you), the warrantee may be void on that one NEW pipe on the climber, but the warrantee should NOT be void on the other pipe rungs that did not break (yet).
We accept the major CREDIT CARDS shown below (a small "credit card convenience fee" applies, but we help pay some of it for you).
Email safetyplay@mindspring.com or call us at (727)-522-0061
Phone or Fax: (727)-522-0061
E-mail us at: safetyplay@mindspring.com
Updated on 8/9/2023