‘Conduct thorough audit on all public parks’
Local authorities, with the help of agencies which have the expertise, should carry out the audit and engage certified playground safety inspectors (CPSI) to work with contractors in the installation and maintenance of playgrounds under their jurisdiction.
SIBU: A thorough safety audit should be done on all public playgrounds nationwide to help the authorities identify the problems on the ground and take necessary actions to avoid mishaps.
In making this call, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health ( Niosh) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the recent incident, where a 15-yearold girl died in a freak playground accident in Kepong, as well as other previous cases should serve as a lesson to all that the safety aspect at playgrounds should never be compromised.
In the incident that occurred on Nov 24, the victim was sitting on a swing for disabled and wheelchair users at a park when her head became trapped in the structure.
“Local authorities, with the help of agencies which have the expertise, should carry out the audit and engage certified playground safety inspectors (CPSI) to work with contractors in the installation and maintenance of playgrounds under their jurisdiction,” he said in a media statement yesterday on the poor condition of public playgrounds.
According to Lee, a study conducted by the Playground Safety Association of Malaysia ( PSAM) shows that 75.6 per cent of public playgrounds are in a bad state with 50 per cent of playground equipment and park furniture rusty, posing danger to children.
The study conducted for the Public Complaints Bureau, surveyed 40 public playgrounds in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan in July last year.
Lee further noted although playground accidents did not make the headlines quite often, Public Complaints Bureau directorgeneral Datuk Harjeet Singh had said a total of 11,231 complaints regarding playgrounds were received by local authorities between 2015 and 2016.
Based on data from the Health Ministry, 530 children were discharged from public hospitals after suffering from falls involving playground equipment between 2014 and 2016.
Lee also noted that despite providing opportunities for fun, exercise and recreation, playgrounds can be a hazardous place when safety is ignored.
He said each year, 250,000 children below 15 years in USA sustained injuries at playgrounds that required emergency treatment.
He also said rusty swing hooks, missing handhold bars and leg rests, broken spring rockers and big gaps in pathways are just some of the problems found at public playgrounds in Malaysia.
However, the most common problem is the surfacing or flooring in play areas which is uneven, damaged, rotten or caked with fungus, completely worn out or unfastened from concrete floors, he added.
He noted that this is a serious problem because it was reported that 78 per cent of injuries by children in playgrounds are due to falls, pointing out good surfacing could help absorb the shock of falls but if they are damaged, it could even be the cause of a child to trip and get hurt.
“PSAM also found that other main problems include damaged slides, broken swings, uncut grass and areas littered with hazardous items like broken bottles and trash.
“Based on the feedback that I received and my own observation, this is a long-standing problem in Malaysia due to lack of knowledge on playground maintenance and safety,” Lee highlighted.
To compound the matter, most of the local authorities and the associations which supervise the public playgrounds do not practise good maintenance culture, he lamented.
In this regard, he said: “I hope that the local authorities could also train their workers or contractors to properly maintain playgrounds while proper signage must be placed at each equipment to teach the public on how and who could use it.
“Local authorities must also have qualified CPSI and conduct advocacy programmes to help deter vandalism.
“They must also adhere to the standards set by the Department of Standards Malaysia including on playground equipment and surfacing which were approved in January last year,” he stressed.
Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) chairman