At 21:05 yesterday in Latvia, several children’s entertainment venues inspected by PTAC found equipment that endangered visitors

PTAC director Baiba Vītoliņa reported at a press conference on Friday that 30 inspections were carried out on outdoor play and recreation areas, four on indoor play and recreation areas, as well as five on cable car entertainment services. Nonconformities were found at all checked service delivery locations.

Vītoliņa referred to the Cabinet of Ministers (MK) regulations on the safety regulations of playgrounds and recreation areas, which stipulate that new playgrounds must undergo post-installation inspection and old playgrounds must undergo risk assessment. If the playground meets the MK criteria, it must be registered with the PTAC.

Currently, there are 643 fields in the PTAC record. Vītoliņa expressed his concern that in municipalities where children’s playgrounds are not registered, safety assessments of playgrounds are not carried out and therefore it is not possible to determine whether they are safe for children.

Equipment that poses a serious risk to visitors has been identified in the 30 playgrounds that have been checked – hard contact of the swings, risks of getting stuck, sharp edges, balance swings with inappropriate pauses and slides without side protection.

Incomplete equipment management was also found in many places – broken elements, damaged mesh, cracked elements of equipment support structures, metal corrosion, abrasive wooden elements, protruding screws, exposed screw bits, contamination in sandboxes, rotten wooden elements.

Inconsistencies have been fully resolved at 18 sites, while at 12 sites the owners have committed to eliminating them as the weather warms up. Until removal, equipment that poses a significant risk is fenced off.

On the other hand, in addition to an insufficient number of supervisors, an uneven and superficial inspection of the equipment – improperly fixed and sealed trampoline springs in the enclosed space, insufficient padding, sharp edges, as well as broken elements and unfenced dangerous objects were found. fields.

While deficiencies were corrected in four squares, one merchant was fined for insufficient supervision.

PTAC also found insufficient numbers of supervisors on the inspected cable cars. They also found that tree assessments were not performed and that the carabiners were worn. Damaged or broken elements were also found – nets, ropes, cables, wooden elements, exposed screws.

While the inconsistencies in three lines are being resolved, work continues on the other lines. PTAC promises to continue to monitor the fields this year as well.