www.playgrounds.uokik.gov.pl – it is the Internet portal devoted to the safety on children's playgrounds. Pieces of advice provided on the website are addressed not only to parents and childminders, but also to playground administrators.

A slide, a swing, a sandbox - they all constitute the equipment that every playground should have. More exclusive playgrounds additionally have complex tunnels, constructions for climbing, wooden vehicles imitating a train or a car, and many other facilities. However, regardless of the number of available facilities the most important thing, both for children and for their parents, is to have fun. In order to make it possible, we should, above all, ensure the safety of our children. How can we do it?

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, continuing activities undertaken in 2007, within the framework of an international project, has created a website www.playgrounds.uokik.gov.pl. The website provides us with prompts how to check whether playground facilities are safe. On this website one can also find the list of institutions responsible for conducting safety controls and for periodical inspections of playground facilities. Additionally, for these institutions, a new website constitutes an important source of information about all binding regulations.

Fundamental issues we should remember about:

• check all facilities before your child starts to play on them – pay attention to rusty, loosely fixed or damaged elements;
• if you notice any equipment which may be dangerous for children (for instance facilities which are loosely fixed to the ground or facilities which lack some elements), report it, above all, to a playground owner or manager (it may be a housing association, a caretaker or an administrator);
• if it is not possible to solve the problem this way, contact building control authorities having their premises in every poviat town. They can e.g. order the disassembly of playground equipment or even close down a given playground.

Additional information:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw, Poland
Tel. (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 430
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail: malgorzata.cieloch@uokik.gov.pl