AS 4685.1:2021 Playground equipment and surfacing Part 1: General safety requirements and test methods (EN 1176-1:2017, MOD).
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.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 335, Durability of wood and wood-based products — Use classes: definitions, application to solid wood and wood-based products
EN 350:20 16, Durability of wood and wood-based products — Testing and classification of the durability to biological agents of wood and wood-based materials
EN 35 1-1:2007, Durability of wood and wood-based products — Preservative-treated solid wood — Part 1: Classification of preservative penetration and retention
EN 636, Plywood — Specifications
EN 818-2:1996+A1:2008, Short link chain for lifting purposes — Safety — Part 2: Medium tolerance chain for chain slings — Grade 8.AS 4685.1 pdf download.