Outdoor Adventure Play Take it outside ...


…or inside. Adventure play and outdoor play are growing fast. Is it something you should be considering?


worldwide – that kids can’t spend all their time in front of a computer, tablet or TV. Families are spending more time together inside and outside the house; the Daily Mail reported in 2013 that families were spending just 36 minutes of ‘quality time’ together each day, with more like two hours 20 minutes at the weekend; a more recent survey in 2015 suggests that families are spending over two hours and 23 minutes together every day. Family activities are a growth area, and any leisure venue that caters for the whole family will tell you this. The consistent growth in redemption also points to this, with families seeking entertainment as a group at FECs and similar.


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Leisure venues have a raft of options when it comes to adventure play, the sky really is the limit both indoor and outdoor. No outdoor space, or in an area where the weather is generally terrible? Look at a climbing wall or the many variants. Blessed with a good amount of sunshine every year on average? Why not look at high ropes


March 2017


arents are realizing something important, and it’s something that is affecting leisure venues


© Iplayco


courses, or some other exciting outdoor installation. There are even versions for the wee ones, so there’s no excuse there.


© Innovative Leisure


Requirements It’s not as simple as just deciding to stick something in and hoping for the best, though. David Yearley, Head of Play Safety, for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, told Global Amusements & Play magazine: “What one has to do is ensure the people using the facility are reasonably safe. The way that is enacted in law in the UK, there are two sides to it – the


criminal side and the civil side of the law. The criminal side of the law covers you if you’re an employer. As an employer you have a legal requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to make sure you look after people affected by your undertaking. In other words, whatever you do as an employer you have to look after anyone affected by it – so that’s not just employees, it’s visitors as well. Further to that, out of the Act come various regulations – one of which is the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, that requires employers to conduct a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. “That’s about it as far as the law requires; play and playgrounds have never come under any particular statute. They don’t cause huge problems generally so they have always fallen under that Act and people undertake the required risk assessments. “If an employer has a balcony from which you could fall from height, that could be identified as a hazard, and control measure might be to put up a barrier to stop you falling off. When it comes to play you will want to install


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