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2016 | LAPPSET PLAY eng

A safe playground is a sum of its parts Playground safety is a sum of many factors. Even if the main aim is to make playgrounds sufficiently challenging, exciting, and inspirational for learning children, they still also need to be safe. Lappset Group considers ensuring product safety an issue of paramount importance. We follow safety standards meticulously in all stages of our product design, manufacture and installation. This is our way of minimising injuries on playgrounds and eliminating dangers as soon as possible. Guidance from the EN 1176 safety standard The EN 1176 playground safety standard sets strict conditions on the safety of playground products. The recommendations included in the standard, 45 years of experience, research and testing are the foundations on which the real safety of Lappset products lies. We participate actively in international standardisation work and cooperate both with the Finnish Standards Association (SFS) and the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes). We have long been actively involved in formulating and developing playground safety standards. By the time new safety requirements are laid down in international standards, Lappset has already been meeting them for years. Good relationships with other experts around the world have also helped and will continue to help Lappset to improve product safety further and further. Thanks to experience and know-how, even the most innovative products can be designed and built with safety considerations in mind. Firsthand information received from customers has also helped us to raise the safety of our products to the high standard for which Lappset is now known. We understand the value of feedback – whether positive or negative – and we hope to keep receiving more in the future. Lappset certifies its playground and sports equipment through the best-known playground equipment testing laboratory, TÜV (Technischer Überwachungsverein) in Germany, according to the strictest possible GS (Geprüfte Sicherheit) standard. The certification covers both product design and the quality of manufacture. We also have an ISO 9001 quality certificate and an ISO 14001 environmental certificate. Together with safety considerations, these certificates play a vital role in ensuring overall quality. Products for all ages The correct balance of safety and product intricacy depends on the target age group of each product. All products are designed so that getting on them is more challenging than playing on them or getting off them. The younger the product age group, the more important it is to ensure good usability. Early teens need to be provided with sufficiently challenging yet technically controlled environments where they can test their physical limits and improve their motor skills. No entrapment The EN 1176 safety standard identifies numerous different factors that need to be taken into account in designing playground equipment. One of these is entrapment. All gaps and corners between structural components need to be designed so as to prevent children’s fingers, heads or bodies from getting trapped. Special testing apparatus is used to measure any gaps in products. If, for instance, a gap is big enough for a child’s body to pass through, it needs to also allow a child’s head to pass. In addition, adults need to be able to access all sections of the equipment in order to help children in case of entrapment. 192


2016 | LAPPSET PLAY eng
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