Safety information notice and retraction

In the Term 1, 2023 edition of Principals Today, [Issue #137] an article entitled “Playground safety regulations” on page 76 contained inaccurate information pertaining to playground safety regulations.

The inaccurate information within the article appeared in two places: a comment early in the article, and in six bullet points sub-titled: Standards include but aren’t limited to…

The incorrect statement was: “… these people need to legally follow these rules…”.

This statement is untrue due to the NZS5828 standard being a best practice guideline, not a legally binding regulation. However, it carries weight in the event of a serious injury or death.

Here are the six incorrect/inaccurate bullet points, followed by the corrected information in italics.

Equipment that is over 500mm has to be on loose fill or artificial surface

No reference of 500mm exists in the NZS5828, this should state >600mm Free Height of Fall (Fhf).

Equipment that is over 500mm needs a clearance of 1.9 metres of fall space around the equipment

Equipment with greater height than 600mm Fhf should have a falling space of min 1.50m. Equipment greater than 1.50m Fhf should apply the appropriate fall zone calculation to a max 3.0m Fhf and a maximum of 2.50m fall zone. 1.90m is not referenced by the NZS5828.

There can’t be any climbing equipment of any height that’s placed on concrete

At less than <600mm Fhf, equipment over concrete can exist.

Gaps between fence palings should be 100mm or less 100mm spacings within barriers, fences or balustrades would constitute a head and neck entrapment as per NZS5828:2015.1.D1 of the Playground Standard. 100mm is a building code reference and the NZS5828 for playgrounds supersedes this.

Obstacles on platforms should be no more than a metre

This statement is not correct and too vague to be used as a guideline for playground safety.

Any portable platform must have fencing if it’s over 1.2 metres

This statement is not relevant to school playground settings, as you cannot have portable platforms within school playgrounds.

Encouraging students to learn The action plan for Pacific education

Playground safety regulations

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For information on playground safety standards, you can visit either the Ministry of Education: www.education.govt.nz, or Playsafe Consulting Ltd: www.playsafe.co.nz.

Our profuse apologies

As publishers of the article containing these incorrect statements, we acknowledge that they may have mislead readers.

Therefore, Principals Today apologises unreservedly for any confusion or inconvenience the inclusion of this information in the magazine may have caused.

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