Play units are a child’s primary energy outlet. But a cursory glance around will show you the sorry state of units that are around for children — broken, rusted, dented and abused units that are nowhere near safe for our children. Safety in play systems seems to have taken a back seat with a lot of substandard units being put up everywhere. Unlilke other countries India has no guidelines or stipulations that are required to be followed while manufacturing or setting up children’s play area equipment.

When you consider a city like Mumbai, space is at the utmost premium. The city centre has hardly any space left and in that, finding a patch of ground to erect an aesthetically designed, safe play system can be extremely difficult.

The durability of play systems is often quite questionable considering what we have as examples in our environment today. Most of them are old, shabby; have their fibreglass cracking in places, wooden planks missing and movable parts ready to fall off.

The weather too plays a hand in how these play systems meet their end. The humidity in the air promotes corrosion as well as wear and tear. In our present conditions, play units made of metal and fibreglass should be completely cut out. Moulded plastic is the key to building safe units, with precision engineering to ensure aesthetics and safety.

It is heartening to note that there is a slow and steady increase in the understanding of this importance in safety in play systems in Mumbai. Builders of today are largely constructing projects in the outskirts of Mumbai where space is still available.

No Child Play

There is a great deal of importance given to aesthetically designed safe play equipment. In fact there is a growing trend amongst builders today to invest in safe play systems. As parents, here are four important aspects you can evaluate when you take your child to the play area next. They are:

Surface
Design and spacing
Equipment inspection
Maintenance

GOOD SURFACES: Having good playground surfaces goes a long way in reducing injuries and their severity. The surface designated for the child to land should be soft and thick enough to cushion a child. Surfacing of concrete, asphalt, and even blacktop are complete taboos. Surfaces made of grass or soil, or even packedearth can be unhygienic and unsafe.

With varying weather conditions their durability and performance levels can be questionable. Surface mats extending around six feet of the playground area are unbeatable in terms of the kind of safety they provide.

EVALUATING DESIGN AND SPACE: The safest of playgrounds is where units are segregated based on age. One space should not overlap into the other. This prevents underage kids from playing on systems that are not meant for them. Evaluate the design of a playground unit. Any elevated surface has to be protected with guardrails that meet international standards in terms of design and size. Swings and see-saws should be at least nine feet apart. Toddler bucket swings should not be mixed with others. Two swings a bay gives sufficient moving space for children. Elevated play units should have a maximum fall height of 5 ft for preschoolers and 7ft for schoolgoing children. Also it is advisable to have vertical guard rails on elevated units rather than horizontal to prevent children from climbing higher.

EQUIPMENT INSPECTION: Make sure that there is no part of the play system where a curious child can stick in his head, arm, finger or any other body part where he or she may get trapped or stuck. Look closely at moving play set parts that could pinch or crush your child’s hands, feet or fingers.

MAINTENANCE: Finally check on how well maintained and regularly inspected these play systems are. This is irrespective of whether it is a home play area or a public one. The equipment should not be broken. Look out for splinters on pieces made of wood and for rusting on metal based surfaces. Sand boxes should be checked for dirt and broken debris.

The author is managing director, Koochie Play Systems International

Incidents in the past are grave reminders of how our parks are. In 2008, 24-year old Ayesha Abdul Razzaq Byadgi died when she tried to save her child who slipped off during an amusement ride at Bal Bhavan Cubbon Park. In another incident, a child was killed when a bench broken in Vidyaranyapura Park. Not even kid’s death will perhaps wake up authorities to make children’s spaces safer. Parks in Bangalore cry for maintenance. Though the horticulture department maintains the landscape and lawns in parks, playground equipment in most are in pathetic condition.

For instance, the slide in Coles Park is broken and broken swings are tied with clothes. While civic authorities are oblivious of this, children are unaware of the danger and continue to play.

Lack of safety standards in manufacturing and placing playground equipment in parks is one of the reasons why such green spaces have become dangerous. Robin Das, chairman and MD, Koochie Play Systems, said there are no standards followed in selecting playground equipment for public places in India.

THE SAFETY STANDARDS
As per international standards framed out by US Consumer Product Safety Commission: “there should be protective surfacing. Almost 60% of the injuries are caused by falls, protective surfacing under and around all playground equipment is the most crucial safety factor. Certain loose-fill surfacing materials are acceptable.”

On the other hand,fall zone should be covered with a protective covering material. Stationary climbing equipment and slides should have a fall zone extending a minimum of six feet in all directions from the perimeter of the equipment. There must be guard rails to ensure a child sits down before using the slide. Swings should also have a fall zone of 6 feet from the outer edge of the support structures. As per the international standards playgrounds should be inspected on regular basis.

WE WILL FOCUS ON MAINTENANCE
Maintenance of playground equipment and parks is given to a contractor for a specified period/ it is true that parks are badly maintained. In order to monitor them, we have called for tenders again. They’ll be finalized in another 8-10 days. We will remove the damaged playground equipment and install new ones in these parks. Their maintenance will be carried out the zonal level in Bangalore.

RWAs SHOULD MONITOR
There are at least 710 parks in Bangalore alone. Though there are international standards for manufacturing and placing of playground equipment in parks, there are no set standards in Bangalore.
BBMP should not wash its hands oo saying that it is the responsibility of contractors. Resident Welfare associations and community groups should take up monitoring work. A system should be established so that the groups inform civic authorities to take up maintenance work. Civic authorities should also act upon their recommendations

SAFETY STANDARDS MUST BE FOLLOWED
In India, there are many who manufacture slides that are 10 and 12 feet high. These are not safe as critical injuries result from children falling off such tall slides, it is also important to use prescribed safety flooring. Further more, it is important to ensure that safety barriers and guard rails are made to stipulated heights as insufficient heights will allow children to climd and fall over to other side of the playground unit.

Roben Das | chairman & MD,
KOOCHIE PLAY SYSTEMS WHICH MAKES PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENTS.

This week on Young Turks Dream Decade we go On The Road to meet Roben Dass of Koochie Play Systems, the only Indian company that designs and builds outdoor playground equipment certified to International standards.

Bengaluru, Karnataka, February 17, 2011 – India PRwire

“We want to bring about a change in perspective when it comes to causes behind playground injuries. We have gained tremendous experience in the design and manufacture of our products in order to adhere to international standards. We would like to bring that experience and technology here, “said Roben Dass, Chairman and Managing Director, Koochie Play Systems International while formally introducing the company and its international expansion plans here today.

Speaking on the lack of importance given to safety measures being implemented in playground systems Roben Dass said, “While some countries have clearly laid out guidelines on how playground equipments are supposed to be designed. Manufactured and installed (such as EN1176 in Europe and ASTM in America), India has no such guidelines or stipulations that are required to be followed. Anybody can manufacture anything and that is used without a second thought.”

In the absence of stipulated guidelines, chaos ensues, this brings about accidents. Safety, thus far has been relegated to the background. Koochie Play Systems aims to be the harbinger of change. In a move towards this, Koochie Play Systems is hosting a series of complementary training workshops starting with their first one in Mumbai. For builders, architects and interior designers on the 18^th of February.”

Koochie Play Systems wants to be able to penetrate Tier 2 and 3 cities more effectively. They also plan exploring a distributor /  franchise model to reach these regions. Pierre-Yves Renoir, International Business Director, Koochie Play Systems International (France), adds, “internationally we are targeting South America, South Africa and a deeper penetration into the Middle East. We aim to become the leader in Middle East Eastern Europe by 2015. It’s a real challenge but not totally unrealistic if we consider our recent innovations, certifications, product designs and the new deveiopments that we have been working on. We are looking at an additional $5 million dollars in the coming years to fund our growth requirements.”

Growth plans: As far as performance in existing markets is concerned, Koochie Play Systems has received tremendous response from most of the premium builders segment, pan India. Most reputed builders, pan India, now consistently use Koochie Play Systems in their projects. Most of them are willing to look at quality products that meet international standards to provide for their clientele.

Roben Dass said, “Whenever Koochie Play Systems has worked  with a builder or school, till date, we have received repeat orders from all of them as they are happy with our quality and service. We are investing keenly in adding infrastructure and personnel right from design stage to installation to support our business growth.”

Koochie Play Systems wants to dispel the notion that such world class quality and service as it provides comes at a prohibitive price. Roben Dass says,”this is a myth, when you compare apples to apples we are actually much cheaper. You need to compare Koochie Play Systems with international brands and when you do so we are at least 45% cheaper. For e.g. multi play systems are sold for twice the price that we sell here in Europe.”

Talking numbers: The initial investment  for Koochie Play Systems was close to around $5 million which largely went towards manufacturing of moulds. Koochie Play Systems has been approached on a regular basis by several companies seeking a joint venture with the hope of lever aging the brand to provide various allied products however, the company for now has decided to focus all its energies and resources on playground equipment.

Bangalore – based playground equipment maker Koochie Play System is on an expansion drive both in the domestic and global markets with an eye on clocking a revenue of USD 20 million (around Rs 85 crore) in the next five years.

The firm plans to enter North and South America, South Africa and Europe in the next fiscal, while it will also foray into eastern India besides streghtening its presence in the north.

“ We expect our revenues to grow to USD 5 million by naxt fiscal and touch USD 20 million by 2015,” Koochie Play Systems CMD Robben Dass told PTI.

For the financial year 2010-11 the company expects to touch USD 1 million revenues. At the moment the company has its presence in 6 countries.

Publication: Times of India (Mumbai)
Date: 19/03/2011 Page 6

ROBEN DASS gives pointers on just what constitutes a safe public playground space for children.

Play units are a child’s primary energy outlet. But a cursory glance around will show you the sorry state of units that are around for children-broken, rusted, dented and abused units that are now here near safe for our children. Safety in play systems seems to have taken a back seat with a lot of substandard units be3ing put up everywhere. Unlike other countries India has no guidelines or stipulations that are required to be followed while manufacturing or setting up children’s play area equipment.

When you consider a city like Mumbai, Space is at the utmost premium. The city centre has hardly any space left and in that, finding a patch of ground to erect an aesthetically designed, safe play system can be extremely difficult.

The durability of play systems is often quite questionable considering what we have as examples in our environment today. Most of them are old, shabby: have their fibre glass cracking in places, wooden planks missing and movable parts ready to fall off. The weather too plays a hand in how these play systems meet their end. The humidity in air promotes corrosion as well as wear and tear. In our present conditions, play units made of metal and fiberglass should be completely cut out. Molded plastic is the key to building safe units, with precision engeneering to ensure aesthetics and safety.

It is heartening to note that there is a slow and steady increase in the understanding of this importance in safety in play systems in play systems in Mumbai where space is still available. There is a great deal of  importance given to aesthetically designed safe play equipment. In fact there is a growing trend amongst builders today to invest in safe play systems.

As parents, here are four important aspects you con evaluate when you take your child to the play area next. They are:

>>Surface

>>Design and spacing

>>Equipment inspection

>>Maintenance

GOOD SURFACES: Having good playground surfaces goes a long way in reducing injuries and their severity. The surface designated for the child to land should be soft and thick enough to cushion a child. Surfacing of concrete, asphalt, and even black top are complete taboos. Surfaces made of grass or soil, or even packed earth can be unhygienic and unsafe. With varying weather conditions their durability and performance levels can be questionable. Surface mats extending around six feet of the playground area are unbeatable in terms of the kind of safety they provide.

EVALUATING DESIGN AND SPACE: The safest  of playgrounds is where units are segregated based on age. One space should not over lap into the other. This prevents underage kids from playing on systems that are not meant for them. Evaluate the design of a playground unit. Any elevated surface has to be protected with guardrails that meet international standards in terms of design and size. Swings and seesaws should be atleast nine feet apart. Toddler bucket swings should not be mixed with others. Two swings a bay gives sufficient moving space for children. Elevated play units should have a maximum fall height of 5ft for preschoolers and 7ft for school-going children. Also it is advisable to have vertical guard rails on elevated units rather than horizontal to prevent children from climbing higher.

EQUIPMENT INSPECTION:Make sure that there is no part of play system where a curious child can stick in his head, arm, finger or any other body part where he or she may get trapped or stuck. Look closely at moving play set parts that could pinch or crush your child’s hands, feet or fingers.

MAINTENANCE:Finally check on how well maintained and regularly inspected these play systems are. This is irrespective of whether it is a home play area or a public one. The equipment should not be broken. Look out for splinters on pieces made of wood and for rusting on metal based surfaces. Sand boxes should be checked for dirt and broken debris.

The Author Managing Director. Koochie Play Systems International.

Roben Dass explains what constitutes a safe playground space for children

Play units are a child’s primary energy outlet. But a cursory glance around will show you the sorry state of units that are around for children-broken, rusted, dented and abused units that are nowhere near safe for our children. Safety in play systems seems to have taken a back seat with a lot of substandard units being put up everywhere. Unlike other countries India has no guidelines or stipulations that are required to be followed while manufacturing or setting up children’s play area equipment.

The durability of play systems is quite questionable considering what we have as examples in our environment today. Most of them are old, shabby; have their fibre-glass cracking in places, wooden planks missing and movable parts ready to fall off. The weather too plays a hand in how these play systems meet their end. The humidity in the air promotes corrosion as well as wear and tear. In our present conditions, play units made of metal and fibre-glass should be completely cut out. Molded plastic is the key to building safe units. With precision engineering to ensure aesthetics and safety.

It is heartening to note that there is a slow and steady increase in the understanding of this importance in safety in play systems in Mumbai. Builders of today are largely constructing projects in the outskirts of Mumbai where space is still available. There is a great deal of importance given to aesthetically designed safe play equipment. In fact there is a growing trend amongst builders today to invest in safe play systems.

As parents, here are four important aspects you take your child to the play area next. They are surface, Design and spacing, Equipment inspection, Maintenance.

Clean surface; having good playground surfaces goes a long way in reducing injuries and their severity. The surface designated for the child to land should be soft and thick enough to cushion a child. Surfacing of concrete, asphalt, and even blacktop are complete taboos. Surfaces made of grass or soil, or even packed earth can be unhygienic and unsafe. With varying weather conditions their durability and performance level can be questionable. Surface mats extending around six feet of the playground area are unbeatable in terms of the kind of safety they provide.

Evaluating design and space: The safest of playgrounds is where units are segregated based on age. One space should not overlap into the other. This prevents underage kids from  playing on systems that are not meant for them. Evaluate the design of a playground unit. Any elevated surface has to be protected with guard rails that meet international standards in terms of design and size. Swings and seesaws should be atleast nine feet apart, toddler bucket swings should not be mixed with others. Two swings a bay gives sufficient moving space for children. Elevated play units should have a maximum fall height of 5 feet for preschoolers and 7 feet for school-going children. Also it is advisable to have vertical guard rails on elevated units rather than horizontal to prevent children from climbing higher.

Equipment selection: Make sure that there is no part of the play system where a curious child can stick in his head, arm finger or any other body part where he or she may get trapped or stuck. Look closely at moving play set parts that could pinch or crush your child’s hands, feet or fingers.

Maintenance: finally check on how well maintained and regularly inspected these play systems are. This is irrespective of whether it is a home play area or a public one. The equipment should not be broken. Look out for splinters on pieces made of wood and for rusting on metal based surfaces. Sand boxes should be checked for dirt and broken debris.