Yangcheon-gu, Systematic Guidance and Inspection on Safety of Children's Play Facilities

A total of 501 locations including 354 housing complexes, 97 urban parks, and 38 daycare centers

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Kim Soo-young) has established a safety inspection plan for children's playground facilities in 2021 as part of creating a safe city, and will conduct systematic guidance and inspections regarding the safety of children's playground facilities.

The inspection targets are children's playground facilities installed at a total of 501 locations, including 354 residential complexes, 97 urban parks, and 38 daycare centers. The owners and other management entities are required to conduct their own safety inspections at least once a month.

The district plans to conduct inspections linked with the Seoul city inspection schedule once each in the first and second halves of the year to check compliance with safety management obligations and the actual condition of facility management.

Key items for fulfilling safety management obligations for children's playground facilities include whether safety inspections have been conducted, safety education for safety managers, insurance renewal, monthly safety inspections, and record keeping.

In particular, the inspection will focus on the condition of facilities such as fixedness of connection parts of combined playground equipment, swings, slides, and rocking play equipment, gaps where body parts can get caught, rusted or cracked areas, and loosening of bolts or screws.

Safety inspections use a checklist created based on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's public notice, allowing anyone to visually observe and check. The management entities and relevant departments confirm through sample inspections, and inspections by experts are also conducted jointly with private specialized institutions.

Regular safety inspections in the first and second halves of the year proceed in three stages as follows: first, self-inspection by owners and other management entities; second, sample inspections by the facility management supervision department; and third, joint inspections by private experts and city/district officials.

Minor issues found during inspections will be immediately corrected on site, and in cases requiring long-term measures, continuous monitoring will be conducted until the measures are completed.

Starting this year, the district plans to promote the ‘Smart Safety Playground Improvement Project’ by attaching QR codes to children's playground facilities, allowing safety information to be checked. When users scan the QR code attached to the playground facilities, they can easily confirm whether safety inspections have been conducted and the contact information of safety managers, thereby providing prompt safety information and ensuring transparency in safety management.

Kim Soo-young, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu, said, “As outdoor activities are limited due to COVID-19 and people increasingly use nearby playgrounds or parks safely without going far, we plan to promote systematic and meticulous management and inspections to create facilities and environments where children can play freely and safely.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.