Playgrounds throughout Waterford are an ‘insurance claim waiting to happen’, according to local Councillor James Tobin, who called a safety audit to be carried out on all county playgrounds to ensure that they are ‘fit for purpose’.
Cllr Tobin was speaking at this week’s meeting of Dungarvan/Lismore Municipal Authority.
“We’ve wonderful playgrounds all over the county (but) looking into some of them, they’re insurance claims waiting to happen. I’m asking if the council could examine all the playgrounds in the county and see are they fit for purpose for today, some of them have been in with quite awhile. There are a few new things that could be added to each of them.
“We’ve wonderful playgrounds all over the county (but) looking into some of them, they’re insurance claims waiting to happen.”
“If the communities were contacted, I’m sure a lot of them would come up with a few quid to help to put in a few things that might be necessary, because some of the playgrounds are, let’s be honest, an accident waiting to happen. And after an accident comes an insurance claim.”
In response, a council spokesperson said all county playgrounds are subject to weekly inspections, while a ‘more rigorous and more detailed’ inspection is carried out independently each year to ensure that all the equipment within the playgrounds are ‘safe and fit for purpose’.
