CEN/TC 136/SC 1 - Playground equipment for children

The purpose of this document is to publish replies to requests for interpretations to all parts of EN 1176 which have been drafted by the interpretation panel and confirmed by CEN/TC 136/SC 1.

This European Standard specifies the test apparatus and the impact test methods for determining the impact attenuation of surfacing by measuring the acceleration experienced during impact. Test apparatus in compliance with this standard are applicable to tests carried out in a laboratory or on site by either methods described.
NOTE   The test methods described in this standard are also applicable for impact areas required in other standards than for playground equipment, e.g. for outdoor fitness equipment and parkour equipment.

This part of EN 1176 specifies general safety requirements for permanently installed public playground equipment and surfacing. Additional safety requirements for specific pieces of playground equipment are specified in subsequent parts of this standard.
This part of EN 1176 covers playground equipment for all children. It has been prepared with full recognition of the need for supervision of young children and of less able or less competent children.
The purpose of this part of EN 1176 is to ensure a proper level of safety when playing in, on or around playground equipment, and at the same time to promote activities and features known to benefit children because they provide valuable experiences that will enable them to cope with situations outside the playground.
This part of EN 1176 is applicable to playground equipment intended for individual and collective use by children. It is also applicable to equipment and units installed as children's playground equipment although they are not manufactured as such, but exclude those items defined as toys in EN 71 and the Toys Safety Directive.
It is not applicable to adventure playgrounds with the exception of those items which have been commercially sourced.
NOTE   Adventure playgrounds are fenced, secured playgrounds, run and staffed in accordance with the widely accepted principles that encourage children's development and often use self-built equipment.
This part of EN 1176 specifies the requirements that will protect the child from hazards that they might be unable to foresee when using the equipment as intended, or in a manner that can be reasonably anticipated.
The use of electricity in play equipment, either as a play activity or as a motive force, is outside the scope of this standard. The attention of users is drawn to European and local national standards and regulations which are to be complied with when using electricity.
Play equipment placed in water and where water can be seen as impact attenuating surfacing is not fully covered by this standard and additional risks are associated with wet environments.
The risk of exposure to excessive levels of UV radiation is not covered in this standard.

The purpose of this document is to supplement the information on ‘One Post Equipment’ contained in EN 1176 1 and to share good practice for the implementation of the requirements in that standard.

This document is applicable to fully enclosed play equipment intended for installation inside and outside buildings, for children up to 14 years old, see 3.1.
The purpose of this document is to provide additional safety requirements covering particulars of these structures.

This document is a collection of rationales for EN 1176 in order to support the use of EN 1176 by providing additional information and explanations. It does not contain additional requirements it only serves as a supporting document.

The purpose of this document is to publish replies to requests for interpretations, to all parts of the EN 1176 series, which have been drafted by the interpretation panel and confirmed by CEN/TC136/SC1.

This part of EN 14960 is applicable to inflatable play equipment intended for use by children fourteen years and under, both individually and collectively.
This part of EN 14960 specifies additional safety requirements for snappies for which the primary activities are climbing and sliding. It sets measures to address risks and also to minimize accidents to users for those involved in the design, manufacture and supply of inflatable play equipment. It specifies information to be supplied with the equipment. The requirements have been laid down bearing in mind the risk factor based on available data.
This part of the EN 14960 specifies requirements to protect a child from hazards that he or she might be unable to foresee when using the equipment as intended, or in a manner that can be reasonably anticipated.
This part of the EN 14960 is not applicable to inflatable water-borne play and leisure equipment, domestic inflatable toys, air-supported buildings, inflatables used solely for protection, inflatables used for rescue, or other types of inflatable toys where the primary activity is not bouncing or sliding.

This document is applicable to playground equipment, surfacing and ancillary items, eg., gates, fences, benches, bins, shades, etc.
Note 1 The scope of the inspection and inclusion of the ancillary items will vary from country to country
Note 2 Ancillary items are not included in EN 1176 and are not assessed for compliance with EN 1176.
This document establishes requirements on the installation, inspection, maintenance and operation of playground equipment and surfacing around the equipment. It is intended for use by playground operators (see definitions 3.4) to assist them in developing an inspection and maintenance regime for each playground.

This European Standard specifies additional safety requirements for swings intended for permanent installation for use by children. Where the main play function is not swinging, the relevant requirements in this part of EN 1176 may be used, as appropriate.
NOTE   Recommendations on the design and siting of swings are given in Annex A.

This document specifies additional safety requirements for carousels intended for permanent installation for use by children.
Where the main play function is not rotating, the relevant requirements in this part of EN 1176 can be used, as appropriate. This document is not applicable to motor-driven carousels, fairground carousels or climbing drums.

This part of EN 14960 specifies additional safety requirements for inflatable bouncing pillows intended for permanent installation.
This part of EN 14960 is applicable to inflatable play equipment intended for use by children fourteen years and under, both individually and collectively.
This part of EN 14960 specifies safety requirements for inflatable play equipment for which the primary activity is bouncing. It sets measures to address risks and also to minimize accidents to users for those involved in the design, manufacture and supply of inflatable play equipment.
It specifies information to be supplied with the equipment. The requirements have been laid down bearing in mind the risk factor based on available data.
This part of EN 14960 specifies the requirements that will protect a child from hazards that he or she might be unable to foresee when using the equipment as intended, or in a manner that can be reasonably anticipated.
This part of EN 14960 is not applicable to inflatables dealt with in EN 14960 1:2019, inflatable water-borne play and leisure equipment, domestic inflatable toys, air-supported buildings, inflatables used solely for protection, inflatables used for rescue, or other types of inflatable toys where the primary activity is not bouncing or sliding.

The purpose of this document is to publish replies to requests for interpretations, to all parts of EN 1176 series, which have been drafted by the interpretation panel and confirmed by CEN/TC 136/S C1 "Playground equipment for children".

This document is applicable to inflatable play equipment intended for use by children fourteen years and under both individually and collectively.
This document specifies safety requirements for inflatable play equipment for which the primary activities are bouncing and sliding. It sets measures to address risks and also to minimize accidents to users for those involved in the design, manufacture and supply of inflatable play equipment. It specifies information to be supplied with the equipment. The requirements have been laid down bearing in mind the risk factor based on available data.
This document specifies the requirements that will protect a child from hazards that he or she may be unable to foresee when using the equipment as intended, or in a manner that can be reasonably anticipated.
This document is not applicable to inflatable water-borne play and leisure equipment, domestic inflatable toys, air-supported buildings, inflatables used solely for protection, inflatables used for rescue, or other types of inflatable toys where the primary activity is not bouncing or sliding.

This document is applicable to rocking equipment which is used as playground equipment for children, as defined in 3.1. Where the main play function is not rocking, the relevant requirements in this document may be used, as appropriate.
This document specifies additional safety requirements and test methods for seesaws and rocking equipment intended for permanent installation for use by children.
It is intended to provide protection to the user against possible hazards during use.
NOTE   Guidance for assessing the safety of other forms of seesaw/rocking equipment is given in informative Annex A.

This European Standard is applicable to cableways whereby children travel along a cable by the use of gravity. This standard specifies additional safety requirements for cableways intended for permanent installation for use by children.

This European Standard specifies additional safety requirements for slides intended for permanent installation for use by children. The aim is to provide protection to the user against possible hazards during use. Where the main play function is not sliding, the relevant requirements in this part of EN 1176 may be used, as appropriate.
This document is not applicable to waterslides, rollerways or slide installations where auxiliary equipment such as mats or sledges are used. This document is not applicable to inclined surfaces that do not contain and guide the user, e.g. banister rails (inclined parallel bars).

This framework forms a guideline for the education, examination and evaluation of the competence of inspectors of public playground environments. For each specific task an inspector may need to perform; this guideline describes the knowledge and experience the inspector needs and also sets out the basic level of knowledge required
The standard EN 1176-1 & 7 details the different types or levels of inspections required to help provide a play environment that is suitable for children to play in.
The different types of inspections demand different levels of knowledge and experience; these are:
   Routine Visual inspection
   Operational inspection
   Annual  main inspection
   Post Installation Inspection
As well as  these inspections identified  in the standard there are also other inspections that are useful in helping to ensure the safe operation of a play environment:
   post-accident investigation
In this guideline there is a broad explanation of what these inspections are and how they should be performed.
This guideline is not intended for certification bodies.
Due to the variety of items that can be encountered in the playground environment this guideline can be used for the following equipment:
Playground equipment EN 1176 part 1 - 11
Skateboard infrastructures EN 14974
Free access Multi Sport equipment EN 15312
Adventure Playgrounds
Outdoor Exercise Equipment DIN79000
Parkour equipment
As well as the equipment mentioned in this guideline other items that are on and around the play environment may need to be assessed depending on their interaction with the play environment where users can access these features for informal play e.g. gates, fences, plants, natural play features,  rocks, boulders landscape features, art features, etc.
Because there features are not encompassed within the standard for playground equipment these items will require risk assessment; but knowledge of the meaning and intention of the standard forms a vital part of this risk assessment
This guideline is not intended for:
EN 71 Toys
EN 15567 High Ropes
EN14960 Inflatable Equipment
The inspector’s task is to assess the general level of safety of the play environment and the equipment provided based on the safety level as it was on inauguration of the equipment.
The format of the inspection and the report which will form the outcome of the inspection will be defined between the provider of the inspection and the client (owner/operator)
The owner/operator should be advised to make a detailed specification so that there is a minimal chance of confusion on the content of the task.
.

This Technical Report gives advice on positioning and possible means of separation between recreational facilities that have different user age groups and levels of risk. This document also gives advice on features to consider in order to address the risks from other features nearby such as traffic, fast flowing water, deep water with steep banks and other natural environmental features.
Information given relates to equipment and facilities that are installed for free-access use outdoors only.
This document is intended to give a horizontal approach, to be considered in all CEN/TC 136 relevant standards dealing with free access sports or physical activity facilities.

This European Standard specifies additional safety requirements for spatial networks intended for permanent installation for use by children.
This European Standard is not applicable to artificial climbing structures, which are used for training for sports activities, e.g. alpinism.

This Technical Report covers open access, unsupervised play spaces. It does not cover adventure playgrounds or other play spaces which are used under supervision. The intention of this document is to enable users, to a large extent, to access play spaces and use the equipment independent of the help of others.
This Technical Report is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 1176 and provides guidance to those involved in the specification, provision and management of play environments. It is intended to help create spaces that will promote opportunities for children of differing abilities to have the opportunity to participate in unsupervised play, and with appropriate levels of challenge and risk.
The scope of EN 1176 (all parts) covers only the safety requirements for play equipment and play surfaces. When developing this Technical Report, however, it was realised that the scope for "play for all" needed to consider a wider context, covering not just the immediate play space but also provide information about the broader environment and other access and facility issues.

This document specifies safety requirements for inflatable bungee runs in addition to the requirements of EN 14960-1.
This document is applicable to inflatable bungee runs intended for use by persons of 1 200 mm minimum height and 120 kg maximum weight/mass.
This document specifies safety requirements for an inflatable game on which the activity is pulling horizontally against a secured bungee shock cord. It sets measures to address risks and also to minimize accidents to users for those involved in the design, manufacture and supply of the inflatable game.
This document specifies the requirements that will protect the user from hazards that they are unable to foresee when using the equipment as intended, or in a manner that can be reasonably anticipated.
This document is not applicable to inflatable water- borne play and leisure equipment, domestic inflatable toys, air-supported buildings, inflatables used solely for protection, inflatables used for rescue, or other types of inflatable toys where the primary activity is not pulling horizontally against a secured bungee shock cord.

This European Standard specifies the test apparatus and the impact test methods for determining the impact attenuation of surfacing by measuring the acceleration experienced during impact. Test apparatus in compliance with this standard are applicable to tests carried out in a laboratory or on site by either methods described.
NOTE   The test methods described in this standard are also applicable for impact areas required in other standards than for playground equipment, e.g. for outdoor fitness equipment and parkour equipment.

This part of EN 1176 specifies general safety requirements for permanently installed public playground equipment and surfacing. Additional safety requirements for specific pieces of playground equipment are specified in subsequent parts of this standard.
This part of EN 1176 covers playground equipment for all children. It has been prepared with full recognition of the need for supervision of young children and of less able or less competent children.
The purpose of this part of EN 1176 is to ensure a proper level of safety when playing in, on or around playground equipment, and at the same time to promote activities and features known to benefit children because they provide valuable experiences that will enable them to cope with situations outside the playground.
This part of EN 1176 is applicable to playground equipment intended for individual and collective use by children. It is also applicable to equipment and units installed as children's playground equipment although they are not manufactured as such, but exclude those items defined as toys in EN 71 and the Toys Safety Directive.
It is not applicable to adventure playgrounds with the exception of those items which have been commercially sourced.
NOTE   Adventure playgrounds are fenced, secured playgrounds, run and staffed in accordance with the widely accepted principles that encourage children's development and often use self-built equipment.
This part of EN 1176 specifies the requirements that will protect the child from hazards that they might be unable to foresee when using the equipment as intended, or in a manner that can be reasonably anticipated.
The use of electricity in play equipment, either as a play activity or as a motive force, is outside the scope of this standard. The attention of users is drawn to European and local national standards and regulations which are to be complied with when using electricity.
Play equipment placed in water and where water can be seen as impact attenuating surfacing is not fully covered by this standard and additional risks are associated with wet environments.
The risk of exposure to excessive levels of UV radiation is not covered in this standard.

This European Standard specifies the test apparatus and the impact test methods for determining the impact attenuation of surfacing by measuring the acceleration experienced during impact. Test apparatus in compliance with this standard are applicable to tests carried out in a laboratory or on site by either methods described.
NOTE   The test methods described in this standard are also applicable for impact areas required in other standards than for playground equipment, e.g. for outdoor fitness equipment and parkour equipment.

This part of EN 1176 specifies general safety requirements for permanently installed public playground equipment and surfacing. Additional safety requirements for specific pieces of playground equipment are specified in subsequent parts of this standard.
This part of EN 1176 covers playground equipment for all children. It has been prepared with full recognition of the need for supervision of young children and of less able or less competent children.
The purpose of this part of EN 1176 is to ensure a proper level of safety when playing in, on or around playground equipment, and at the same time to promote activities and features known to benefit children because they provide valuable experiences that will enable them to cope with situations outside the playground.
This part of EN 1176 is applicable to playground equipment intended for individual and collective use by children. It is also applicable to equipment and units installed as children's playground equipment although they are not manufactured as such, but exclude those items defined as toys in EN 71 and the Toys Safety Directive.
It is not applicable to adventure playgrounds with the exception of those items which have been commercially sourced.
NOTE   Adventure playgrounds are fenced, secured playgrounds, run and staffed in accordance with the widely accepted principles that encourage children's development and often use self-built equipment.
This part of EN 1176 specifies the requirements that will protect the child from hazards that they might be unable to foresee when using the equipment as intended, or in a manner that can be reasonably anticipated.
The use of electricity in play equipment, either as a play activity or as a motive force, is outside the scope of this standard. The attention of users is drawn to European and local national standards and regulations which are to be complied with when using electricity.
Play equipment placed in water and where water can be seen as impact attenuating surfacing is not fully covered by this standard and additional risks are associated with wet environments.
The risk of exposure to excessive levels of UV radiation is not covered in this standard.

This document is applicable to fully enclosed play equipment intended for installation inside and outside buildings, for children up to 14 years old, see 3.1.
The purpose of this document is to provide additional safety requirements covering particulars of these structures, such as exits and escape routes, visibility, external "climbability", containment walls/netting in relation to safety area, ignition resistance, specific equipments/components, impact-attenuating surfaces, signage, specific inspection and maintenance.

This Technical Report is intended to be read in conjunction with EN 1176.
The rationales given in this Technical Report describe the main reasons behind the requirements given in EN 1176. The requirements in the standard are the tools (e.g. measures, testing methods etc.) by which the objectives are intended to be reached.

This document gives guidance on the installation, inspection, maintenance and operation of playground equipment, including ancillary items, e.g. gates, fences, and surfacing.

The purpose of this CEN Technical Report is to provide replies to requests for interpretations of all parts to EN 1176.

This European Standard specifies additional safety requirements for swings intended for permanent installation for use by children. Where the main play function is not swinging, the relevant requirements in this part of EN 1176 may be used, as appropriate.
NOTE   Recommendations on the design and siting of swings are given in Annex A.

This document is applicable to carousels that are used as playground equipment for children, as defined in 3.1 to 3.6.
This document specifies additional safety requirements for carousels of diameter greater than 500 mm intended for permanent installation for use by children.
This document is not applicable to equipment where the main play function is not rotating.
This document is not applicable to motor-driven carousels, fairground carousels or climbing drums.

This European Standard is applicable to inflatable play equipment intended for use by children fourteen years and under both individually and collectively.
This standard specifies safety requirements for inflatable play equipment for which the primary activities are bouncing and sliding. It sets measures to address risks and also to minimise accidents to users for those involved in the design, manufacture and supply of inflatable play equipment. It specifies information to be supplied with the equipment. The requirements have been laid down bearing in mind the risk factor based on available data.
This standard specifies the requirements that will protect a child from hazards that he or she may be unable to foresee when using the equipment as intended, or in a manner that can be reasonably anticipated.
This standard is not applicable to inflatable water-borne play and leisure equipment, domestic inflatable toys, air-supported buildings, inflatables used solely for protection, inflatables used for rescue, or other types of inflatable toys where the primary activity is not bouncing or sliding.

This European Standard specifies the test apparatus and the impact test methods for determining the impact attenuation of surfacing by measuring the acceleration experienced during impact. Test apparatus in compliance with this standard are applicable to tests carried out in a laboratory or on site by either methods described.
NOTE   The test methods described in this standard are also applicable for impact areas required in other standards than for playground equipment, e.g. for outdoor fitness equipment and parkour equipment.

This European Standard is applicable to cableways whereby children travel on or along a cable by the use of gravity. This standard specifies additional safety requirements for cableways intended for permanent installation for use by children.

This document is applicable to rocking equipment which is used as playground equipment for children, as defined in 3.1. Where the main play function is not rocking, the relevant requirements in this document may be used, as appropriate.
This document specifies additional safety requirements and test methods for seesaws and rocking equipment intended for permanent installation for use by children.
It is intended to provide protection to the user against possible hazards during use.
NOTE   Guidance for assessing the safety of other forms of seesaw/rocking equipment is given in informative Annex A.

This European Standard specifies a method for determining the impact attenuation of playground surfacing. It defines a “Critical Fall Height" (see 3.2) for surfacing, which represents the upper limit of its effectiveness in reducing head injury when using playground equipment conforming to EN 1176. The test methods described in the European Standard are applicable for tests carried out in a laboratory and for tests on site.

This document is applicable to rocking equipment which is used as playground equipment for children, as defined in 3.1. Where the main play function is not rocking, the relevant requirements in this document may be used, as appropriate.
This document specifies additional safety requirements for seesaws and rocking equipment intended for permanent installation for use by children.
It is intended to provide protection to the user against possible hazards during use.
NOTE   Guidance for assessing the safety of other forms of seesaw/rocking equipment is given in Annex A.

This document specifies additional safety requirements for slides intended for permanent installation for use by children. The aim is to provide protection to the user against possible hazards during use. Where the main play function is not sliding, the relevant requirements in this part of EN 1176 may be used, as appropriate.
This document is not applicable to waterslides, rollerways or slide installations where auxiliary equipment such as mats or sledges are used. This document is not applicable for inclined surfaces which do not contain and guide the user, e.g. banister rails (inclined parallel bars).

This part of EN 1176 specifies general safety requirements for public playground equipment and surfacing. Additional safety requirements for specific pieces of playground equipment are specified in subsequent parts of this standard.
This part of EN 1176 covers playground equipment for all children. It has been prepared with full recognition of the need for supervision of young children and of less able or less competent children.
The purpose of this part of EN 1176 is to ensure a proper level of safety when playing in, on or around play-ground equipment, and at the same time to promote activities and features known to benefit children because they provide valuable experiences that will enable them to cope with situations outside the playground.
This part of EN 1176 is applicable to playground equipment intended for individual and collective use by chil-dren, but excluding adventure playgrounds. It is also applicable to equipment and units installed as children's playground equipment although they are not manufactured as such, but excludes those items defined as toys in EN 71 and the Toys Safety Directive.
NOTE    Adventure playgrounds are fenced, secured playgrounds, run and staffed in accordance with the widely ac-cepted principles that encourage children's development and often use self-built equipment.
This part of EN 1176 specifies the requirements that will protect the child from hazards that he or she may be unable to foresee when using the equipment as intended, or in a manner that can be reasonably anticipated.

This part of EN 1176 specifies additional safety requirements for swings intended for permanent installation for use by children. Where the main play function is not swinging, the relevant requirements in this part of
EN 1176 may be used, as appropriate.
NOTE   Recommendations on the design and sitting of swings are given in Annex A.

This document is applicable to cableways whereby children travel on or along a cable by the use of gravity.
This standard specifies additional safety requirements for cableways intended for permanent installation for use by children.

This document specifies additional safety requirements for spatial networks intended for permanent installation for use by children.
This standard is not applicable to artificial climbing structures, which are used for training for sports activities, e.g. alpinism.

This standard is applicable to inflatable play equipment intended for use by children fourteen years and under both individually and collectively.
This standard specifies safety requirements for inflatable play equipment for which the primary activities are bouncing and sliding. It sets measures to address risks and also minimize accidents to users for those involved in the design, manufacture and supply of inflatable play equipment. It specifies information to be supplied with the equipment. The requirements have been laid down bearing in mind the risk factor based on available data.
This standard specifies the requirements that will protect a child from hazards that he or she may be unable to foresee when using the equipment as intended, or in a manner that can be reasonably anticipated.
This Standard is not applicable to inflatable water-borne play and leisure equipment, domestic inflatable toys, air-supported buildings, inflatables used solely for protection, inflatables used for rescue, or other types of inflatable toys where the primary activity is not bouncing or sliding.

This standard specifies additional safety requirements for swings intended for permanent installation for use by children.

This standard specifies additional safety requirements for runways intended for permanent installation for use by children. This standard is applicable to runways that children travel on or along a cable by the use of gravity.

This standard specifies general safety requirements for playground equipment. These requirements have been laid down bearing in mind the risk factor based on available data. Additional specific safety requirements for specific pieces of playground equipment are specified in subsequent parts of this standard.

This part of EN 1176 specifies additional safety requirements for carousels of diameter greater than 0,5 m intended for permanent installation for use by children.

This standard specifies additional safety requirements for slides intended for permanent installation for use by children. This standard is not applicable to waterslides, rollerways or slide installations where auxiliary equipment such as mats or sledges are used.

Migrated from Progress Sheet (TC Comment) (2000-07-10): UAP of 6 months (TC Res 132/2000) (CC/000627)