Managing Risk in Play Provision

Managing Risk in Play Provision: Implementation guide.

Play providers often tell us they need to strike a balance between the risks and the benefits of offering children challenging play opportunities.  Play England and and the the Play Safety Forum have produced guidance Managing Risk in Play Provision to help.

This implementation guide shows how play providers can replace current risk assessment practice with an approach that fully takes into account the benefits to children and young people of challenging play experiences. The document's overall approach will be useful for those who manage spaces and settings in which children play, and for those involved in designing and maintaining them.

The managing risk in play provision implementation guide builds on the Play Safety Forum's position statement Managing risk in play provision (Play Safety Forum, 2002). It starts from the principle that ultimate responsibility for making decisions rests with the provider, although outside expertise and advice is always valuable.

This guide was written by David Ball, Tim Gill and Bernard Spiegal.

Further reading

Managing risk in play provision: A briefing for risk managers - This breifing paper is aimed at local authorities and other public or voluntary agencies that manage play provision.

Written by one of implementation guide authors Tim Gill, the briefing argues for a balanced approach to play safety that ensures overall goals and objectives are not compromised by excessive risk aversion.