Chawton Village Play Area – Chawton Parish Council annual Risk Assessment January 2019
(Risk = Consequence x Likelihood)
| Hazard / Risk | Risk Event | Control Measures | Risk Assessment | Notes | Gaps / Improvements | |
| Consequence | Likelihood | |||||
| Playground Equipment | Structural failure of playground equipment causing injury to a user. | Annual inspection and maintenance of play area equipment by specialist company. | High | Low | CPC contracts with a play equipment specialist company to inspection the play area annually and to undertake maintenance work | CPC to review play area inspection recommendations. |
| Use of Equipment | A play area user falls from a piece of equipment causing injury | Profession design, construction and maintenance of the play area. Matting to reduce impact of any fall | Medium | Medium | As noted below the use of the play area is entirely voluntary and unsupervised. The design of the play area and the surface matting help to mitigate the risk of an injury but cannot eliminate it completely. | Ongoing maintenance of the matting, as advised in the annual survey, is clearly important. |
| Litter / Glass | Litter / glass discarded in the play area causes injury to a user | Providing litter bins close to the play area. | Medium | Medium | Impossible to prevent but providing bins helps to reduce the likelihood. | |
| Dogs | A dog fouls in the play area and user.
A dog bites a user in the play area |
Dog bins provided help reduce the incidence of dog fouling in the play area | Medium | Medium | Fencing the play area has been considered previously but rejected as looking out of place in a semi-rural setting. Fencing would only be effective if an entry gate were always shut to prevent dogs entering. Issue will be monitored. | Consider additional signage that dogs must be kept out of the play area and be under control |
| Poisonous or thorny plants | A play area user is injured by an overhanging thorny plant | CPC to monitor the growth of plants around the play area and ensure that they are pruned | High | Low | ||
| Trees | A branch of tree falls and injures a user in the play area | CPC to have an annual Risk Assessment of all of the trees under its responsibility within the village by a Tree Surgeon | High | Low | CPC will shortly be arranging a risk assessment of the trees for which it is responsible within the village including those close to the play area. | |
| Motor Vehicles | A car in the car park crashes through the wooden fence of the car park and injures a play area user. | The wooden fence provides a barrier between the car park and the play area that would stop most slow speed vehicles.
The pavement and substantial low wall on the Gosport Road side of the play area provide an effective barrier. |
High | Low | Wooden fencing between the car park and the play area has recently been repaired and replaced | Consider adding a low level wooden barrier on the play area side of the wooden fence to increase effectiveness. |
| Steps / slopes | A user of the play area trips on leaving the play area and injures themselves | The area around the play area is generally flat. There is however a slight step between the matting and the grassed area. Important to keep the grass regularly cut so that the step is apparent | Medium | Medium | ||
Notes
- Use of the play area is entirely voluntary.
- Use of the play area is entirely unsupervised
