Hannah Morgan of PSS Ltd attended the 2 Day RPII Operational Training Course at Worcester City  Council to find out just what the course entailed.

The RPII Qualification as a measure of competence

The RPII examines, accredits and certificates individual play area inspectors. These certifications are a demonstration of competence and therefore considered a measure of best practice as a way of meeting of the site owners duty of care as required by industry standards and guidelines.

As an RPII Annual Inspector, Trainer and Examiner, Louisa Hill of PSS Ltd, is able to run courses and examinations for the RPII to assist inspectors in gaining the required skills at the appropriate inspection level. Louisa joined PSS after gaining a working knowledge of play inspections and management with Cardiff Council. Louisa regularly inspect play areas in order to maintain her skill sets.

Course intentions

The course is designed for inspectors or staff who carry out operational inspections (usually monthly or quarterly) of children’s playgrounds. Additionally anyone, like myself who wants to gain a greater knowledge of the relevant European standards (EN1176 and EN1777) and legislation relating to playgrounds, which is the cornerstone of the PSSLive app.

The course constitutes of the legislation and standards that are fundamental to the inspection requirements and methodology. It covers risk methods, expected hazards and most importantly provides peace of mind to owners that if the worst should happen and an accident occurs the courts can be satisfied that all appropriate measures to avoid such a scenario have been undertaken as practicably as possible and recorded as such.

The course intends to convey an understanding of play and why it is so important for children’s learning and developments. There is a very wide and diverse range of type of play equipment and surfacing. Knowing how to properly conduct an inspection, assess and manage risk and understand the standards to apply form a part of the course

Gaining a Grounding in the Inspection Process

Attending the course allowed me to find out more about the inspections process. As a relatively new employee with PSS, my role is to support our customers in their use of PSSLive software via the desktop and mobile apps. Gaining a firm grounding in the actual inspections process, both in theory and practice was a vital part of my induction training.

Louisa explained the components of a proper inspection, how it should be recorded and what elements to include. Recording can be done by pen and paper, however as Worcester City Council are already customers of PSSLive – we covered the recording process via the PSSLive+ app which highlights all required fields for a proper inspection as contained within the app. PSSLive makes recording Inspections quick, easy and accurate as the system already has the information that needs to be included for the type of inspection, the Inspector then just needs to fill it in meaning they are unlikely to forget to record important information.

Training Materials and Style

Louisa offers a knowledgeable, relaxed style of training that suits her audience. Full course notes are provided to take away for future reference. If your staff do operational inspections, the RPII course would be valuable for them to attend.