§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what statistics his Department collates about injuries to children playing in local authority playgrounds; and if he will publish them. [143379]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Health and Safety Executive (HSE) collates statistics on those accidents which are reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. The table contains the statistics for the past four years.
Injuries to children1 in local authority2 playgrounds3 as reported to HSE4 Year Fatal Non fatal Total 1996–97 0 278 278 1997–98 1 195 196 1998–99 0 125 125 1999–20005 1 104 105 1 Children are defined as individuals aged one year and up including 15 years of age. A search criteria of 0 years produces records where age is not known as well as children aged under age of one. These data cannot be disagregated. 2 Local authorities have been identified by HSE: client status code—04. 3 Playgrounds have been identified by HSE: process environment code—5550. 4 Injuries reported to HSE's Field Operations Directorate 5 Provisional.
§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will take steps to(a) compel or (b) encourage local authorities to ensure that children's playgrounds have soft surfaces to minimise the risk of injury. [143380]
§ Mr. MeacherHealth and safety legislation already compels local authorities to carry out an assessment of the risks to the health and safety of persons not in their employment who may be affected by the manner in which they carry out their undertaking. This would include assessing the risks in children's playgrounds and such assessments should consider whether the surface complies with published standards on impact absorbing surfaces. Guidance on these standards is available to all local authorities.
Where local authorities fail to ensure playgrounds have suitable impact absorbing surfaces, HSE is prepared to take enforcement action.