Certification for safety inspectors, not playgrounds.

The issue of playground safety is ever-present. The public media, with a sympathetic eye for children who have been injured, an inquiring eye for potential controversies and a dramatic eye for the extraordinary settlements of a few legal cases, have helped make playground safety almost a national cause celebre.

Behind the headlines and news stories, a dedicated effort to identify the problems and offer solutions to playground safety has been along-term, ongoing process, particularly by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, Two subcommittees of the American Society for Testing and Materials, the American Association for Leisure and Recreation's Committee on Play, and the National Playground Safety Institute - a special program of the National Recreation and Park Association.

These efforts have produced excellent results. They include new federal playground safety guidelines, a technical surfacing information guide, two national voluntary standards for playground surfacing and development, several excellent research studies, a series of playground safety training institutes, and three playground safety publications.

These combine efforts represent progress toward the goal of reducing playground accidents. Children are especially vulnerable to serious injuries because of their still-developing physical condition and skills; their lack of awareness, little appreciation for and poor understanding of danger; and their inherent risk-taking, adventure-seeking and self-challenging nature. The task is to reduce the probability of serious accidents while preserving the personal growth potential provided for children playgrounds.

While there is admittedly much more to be learned, today more than ever before we have a basis for rational decision-making for playground safety. Whereas in the past there existed a wide variety of "expert opinions" and approaches to safety in the playground (which consequently led to confusion and bewilderment for practitioners and the public alike), there is today a consensus body of knowledge related to playground safety. Of course, more information is still being gathered and refinements in technique are inevitable in the future. But the basic fundamentals of playground safety have been determined and documented and a logical hazard reduction program has been developed.

It is appropriate now to ensure the dissemination and proper application of this program through a uniform, accurate and constantly updated process. The National Playground Safety Institute (NPSI) believes the most effective means of achieving this is to develop and administer a national voluntary certification program for playground safety inspectors.

Certification Is Required

The NPSI certification program will conform to the rigid criteria established by the National Certification Board. Applicants must successfully complete an approved course of study and pass a national examination to receive a two-year certification. Prior to the end of all subsequent certification periods, those seeking certification renewal must obtain a minimum of two continuing education units of additional training in playground safety. In this manner, certified individuals will routinely obtain new information and be instructed in new procedures in a timely and efficient way. Two NPSI committees - certification and exam-writing - mirror those of the National Certification Board and work directly with that governing body.

Individuals, not facilities, can be certified. There will be no "NPSI-Certified Playgrounds" nor will there be any "NPSI-Certified Departments." Because of the dynamic and evolving character of the certification requirements (i.e., application of new information and procedures as they develop), these improvements can be taught to individuals; playgrounds obviously cannot automatically metamorphose new alterations.

Certification will be voluntary. NPSI does not be advocate mandatory certification for any public job classification or position. Nor does it urge that municipalities or states enact ordinances or legislation requiring NPSI-certified staff or facility audits by NPSI-certified playground inspectors.

There are people in many professional roles for whom certification may be desirable, perhaps even intrinsically appropriate. These include park department risk managers and safety officers, playground maintenance supervisors (but not necessarily individual members of the maintenance crew), playground designers, daycare facility inspectors, independent consultants, equipment suppliers/installers and other who are responsible for playground safety.

Certified playground safety inspectors will be trained in the causes of playground accidents, safety guidelines and standards, relevant organizations and agencies providing support and information, proper use of audit and inspection instruments, surface testing requirements and approved laboratories, testing procedures for entrapment and protrusions, hazard identification and analysis, and preparation of playground appraisal documents, improvement prioritization schedules and recommendations.

There are variety of ways to prepare for the national playground safety inspectors certification examination. It is possible to undertake a self-reliant study of the current playground literature, including the CPSC Handbook, the relevant ASTM standards, and the NPSI publications. Another, more structured independent approach is to take the playground safety correspondence course authorized by NPSI which will be offered by Penn State University.

Two training sessions will be available by NPSI-approved instructors; one will be available preceding the 1994 NRPA Congress. This will be similar to the NPSI institutes offered prior to the annual NRPA Congress in 1991 (Baltimore), 1992 (Cincinnati) and 1993 (San Jose). Recognizing that many professionals are unable to attend a national session, NPSI is developing a criterion-based standard playground safety workshop syllabus and package of curriculum materials as well as training instructors who can offer one-and two-day training workshops anywhere upon request. Participants in both the national and local training sessions will have advance assigned readings to prepare for the workshop.

Questions Developed

The examination follows the format established by the National Certification Board. A pool questions have been developed by a test-writing committee composed of practitioners and academicians. All questions are multiple-choice. The questions for each test will be selected based upon a standard distribution of topical categories so that each test, while having different questions, will have questions from each of the required topics. A minimum of 100 points will be used for each test. Individuals who take the correspondence course will be able to take the exam by arranging for an approved proctor upon completion of their lessons. A group exam is planned following the 1994 national training session in Minneapolis. Other group exams, perhaps at the state level, will be scheduled after regional workshops have been completed.