Playground Maintenance Tips

Playdale’s playgrounds are hardwearing thanks to their high-quality stainless steel and timber construction, as well as expert engineering and installation.

However, no playground stays pristine forever – and after considerable play from excitable children, you must do your due diligence by inspecting and maintaining your playground.

Read on for expert tips from our skilled playground inspection team on how to keep your playground equipment safe and play-ready for decades to come.

Playground equipment inspections

Playground equipment inspections are crucial for spotting potential hazards before they develop into risks and then into possible injury.

Playgrounds should be a place where children can enjoy the thrill of perceived risk-taking, without the potential consequence of hurting themselves due to damaged equipment.

Your inspection will be crucial in identifying where equipment may have become damaged, loose or generally worse-for-wear – as well as addressing aesthetic issues, such as graffiti, that could pose an unsightly issue or emotional risk.

For busy individuals who struggle to find the time to inspect playgrounds themselves, such as teachers with their school playgrounds, Playdale offers a full inspection and maintenance service, conducted quarterly or yearly.

What to look for during a playground inspection?

Playgrounds in schools, council-run playgrounds in parks and other high-traffic areas see lots of use – so it’s important to know what potential hazards and risks you’re looking for in your inspection.

Watch out for the following:

• Structural issues: Check that ground-fixed play equipment – including tables and benches, adventure trails, seesaws, Woodland Eco Towers and similar equipment – remain securely in place, with no loose fittings, wobbles or cracks.
• Equipment surfaces: Check that equipment surfaces contain no sharp edges or rough material that could cause burns or skin damage and that there is no rust or corrosion from long-term weather exposure – especially on playground slides or swing seats, where friction burn could pose further risk.
• Environmental hazards: Surrounding debris and rubbish isn’t just unsightly, it’s also a trip hazard and could spoil designated safe landing spots when dismounting or falling from challenging play equipment. Check all playground surfacing to ensure it remains safe and fit-for-purpose.

Cleaning playground equipment

Cleaning playground surfacing provides an extra layer of protection against germs, as well as removes potentially inappropriate graffiti – ensuring playgrounds remain a welcoming environment for all.

You should regularly disinfect playground equipment during your routine maintenance, while also removing any pests, such as spiders and their cobwebs.

Maintaining playground surfacing

Loose objects, litter or discarded materials can create trip hazards and compromise designated safe landing areas, particularly under climbing frames, slides or other challenging play equipment.

To maintain playground surfacing, check for uneven or damaged surfaces, ensure soft-fall areas are free from obstructions and promptly remove any litter or debris, such as sticks and stones.

If your playground surfacing uses real grass or loosefill, make sure the surface remains flat and even, smoothing out holes or mounds that could become trip hazards.

Playground risk assessments

Managing and updating cohesive risk assessments is a great way to ensure that your playground inspections are carried out to a high standard, with any and all hazards identified – regardless of who carries out the inspection.

As well as checking for the issues already discussed, the structure of your risk assessment should look a little like this:

1. Identify playground hazards.
2. Evaluate the risk of the hazards identified.
3. Decide on how these hazards can be controlled and mitigated.
4. Record your findings and conclusions/next steps.
5. Action your maintenance tasks and next steps.
6. Record all actions and monitor the results.

Need support maintaining your playground?

If you want to make sure your playground equipment inspection and playground maintenance tasks are handled to the highest possible standard, Playdale can help.

Playdale’s non-dismantling inspections are carried out to the current European safety standard BS EN1176. They also come with a full written report and risk assessment. Minor playground maintenance works are carried out on-site for free.

Learn about pricing for playground inspections and maintenance.