Safe playgrounds is a topic we all can relate to. If not for our own children, then it is for our nieces, nepwes or grand children. Untill The end of 1999 it was regulated on an national level. And each of these national standards had its value to bring safety to play environments. For producers of playground equipment, these differences in rules made it very dificult to market one product throughout Europe. With the harmonisation of the national standards resulting into the EN 1176 standard series it became possible to cost efficiently market challenging play equipment.
The first version of the EN 1176 standard was published in 1999. It was the result of intensive negotiations between several European countries. The advantage of this European standard is the barrier-free trade of equipment throughout Europe with an appropriate level of safety. But the standard also recognizes the need for children to take acceptable risks depending on the fact that they grow up to be healthy and balanced people.
