Play
-
A renewed, misguided ASTM attempt to change surfacing standards, a Guardian editorial and risk-benefit assessment
‘Bicycle helmets save lives’ a Guardian editorial pointed out today (27.09.2016) referrencing recent Australian research. The editorial then posed the question: Should wearing cycle helmets be made compulsory? Now read on for the editorial’s succinct explication of a form of reasoning we have come to know as risk-benefit assessment. ‘From the point of view of Continue reading
-
Review of Adrian Voce’s book ‘Policy for Play: Responding to children’s forgotten right’
I was invited by the International Journal of Play to write a review of Adrian Voce’s ‘Policy for Play: Responding to children’s forgotten right’. This is the original manuscript of the review published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Play on 15 March 2016 available online http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21594937.2016.1146492 Policy for Play is at once Continue reading
-
Reflection on court finding no negligence in injury at play claim
Attention has rightly been drawn to a recent British Columbia (Canada) Supreme Court Judgment that, whilst not serving as precedent in other jurisdictions, is both interesting and useful. You can read the judgment here. In brief, the civil law case – brought under British Columbia Occupiers Liability Act 1996 – focuses on a negligence claim Continue reading
-
Come on, it’s not so bad – the APPG report on play
It’s true, the recent report on play by the All-Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood would have benefited from some judicious editing and organising in terms of structure and length. True, too, that there are points where it veers off in directions that some might feel are not entirely consistent with other points Continue reading
-
A conversation about Play England’s future – an invitation to all
A conversation about Play England’s future – an invitation to all We are asking individuals and organisations to circulate this letter to your mailing lists and contacts. At Play England’s recent meeting entitled ‘Children’s Play – The Challenge Ahead’, a significant number of people agreed that now was the time to generate a wide-ranging discussion Continue reading
-
After Standards’ reform: The sunny uplands of possibility?
As a topic of conversation, the role and scope of play equipment and surfacing standards[1] may appear somewhat dry and technical, a bit of a turn-off. But consider this: The playground equipment and surfacing industry here in the UK has an estimated annual turnover in the order of £170m – £200m, a significant proportion of Continue reading
-
Observations on Impact Attenuation Criteria for Playground Surfaces by Professor David Ball
I reprint in full an important and helpful paper by David Ball, Professor of Risk Management at the Centre for Decision Analysis and Risk Management. The paper, ‘Observations on Impact Attenuation Criteria for Playground Surfaces, discusses some of the questions and tensions that inevitably arise whenever risk management decisions need to be made. The paper Continue reading
-
Democratic space
It’s not an accident that we attach the adjective ‘democratic’ to either describe actual public spaces, or to mark our aspirations for them. Indeed, there’s a flotilla of warm words – ‘shared’, ‘communal’, ‘inclusive’, ‘accessible’ – that together act as a collective nod towards the features and atmosphere we believe a truly public, ‘public space’ Continue reading
About Me
This is Bernard Spiegal’s blog.
I write mainly about Palestine/Israel and related issues; sometimes other stuff too
Bernard Spiegal 