About
Welcome to the International Playground Safety Institute
IPSI, LLC is an incorporated business in the State of Oregon committed to the rights of children around the world to play safely whenever using public parks and playgrounds. IPSI, LLC is contracted with the National park and Recreation Association (NRPA) located in Ashburn, Virginia (USA) to conduct the internationally acclaimed Certified Playground Safety Inspector Course and National Certification Exam. The CPSI Course has been presented to more than 35,000 people involved in all aspects of public playground operations. The NRPA currently has a registry of more than 8,000 certified playground safety inspectors.
In addition, IPSI, LLC has a network of highly qualified playground experts in every aspect of the playground industry poised to assist you with your personal needs.
About the Executive Director
Ken Kutska is a consultant specializing in many areas of safety in play spaces for children. He is President of Children and Recreation Environments, Inc. which distributes special surfacing system adhesives, non-toxic cleaners for children’s play areas and is the Executive Director of the International Playground Safety Institute which offers playground safety training and consulting services throughout the world.
Ken received his B.S. in Public Park and Recreation Administration from Western Illinois University. He is a Certified Park and Recreation Professional and a Certified Playground Safety Inspector. Ken retired from the Wheaton Illinois Park District with more than 35 years of management experience in all aspects of public park operations. The Wheaton Park District was a 1985 founding member agency of the Park District Risk Management Agency (www.PDRMA.org), a premier governmental cooperative risk management agency responsible for all aspects of loss control services including multiple lines of insurance coverage.
Ken is a career member of the National Recreation and Park Association (www.nrpa.org) and various professional state park and recreation associations. He has served on the; Illinois Park and Recreation Association (IPRA) Board of Directors, chaired the IPRA Park and Natural Resource Management Section. He served on the NRPA Board of Trustees and was President of the NRPA in 1995. Ken co-founded the NRPA National Playground Safety Institute (NPSI) in 1989/90 and has been a program instructor since 1991. The NPSI Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI) Course and Exam has offered over 500 Institutes and trained more than 30,000 participants with a current CPSI national registry of 8,500.
Ken is a member of the National Playground Contractors Association International (www.npca.org), the American Academy of Park and Recreation Administrators (AAPRA) and was just appointed to the International Playground Equipment Manufacturers Association (www.ipema.org) 2008 Voice of Play Board of Advisors Initiative. He is an active member of several American Society for Testing and Materials (www.astm.org) subcommittees and was appointed Chair of the F15.29 Subcommittee on safety performance requirements for play equipment for public use in 2005.
In 1989 Ken developed a comprehensive operations manual to address playground safety issues and co-authored an expanded published version of the program, Playground Safety Is No Accident: Developing A Public Playground Safety and Maintenance Program. This book has gone through a major rewrite to create this fourth version. He co-authored Guide to Playground Planning, Illinois Park and Recreation Association, 1995; to help small communities plan safe yet challenging play spaces for children. He has written numerous articles on all aspects of public playground management and is a regular contributor to Playground Magazine. He continues to make presentations and consults on various playground management and safety related issues.
Ken continues to work towards further developing the National Playground Safety Institute and the International Playground Safety Institute in hopes every municipality, school district, and public play area owner and operator has at least one trained and certified staff member responsible for every public playground.
Hi, I am trying to ascertain if any standards are in place in Japan regarding both the safety of playground equipment and also the installation ‘surfacing’ for playground equipment and if this covers outdoor fitness equipment. If standards exist are they based on the US or European etc. Many thanks Regards Paul Hemmings.
Did you ever get a copy of the 2002 JPFA standard? It was translated into English but it has since been revised without an English translation. ASTM has a working group looking at performance standard for outdoor fitness equipment in a unsupervised public environment where one would be expected to encounter young children with their parents. Harv Voris, Paramount Fitness, is the working group chair.
Hi,
I am seeking more about information about standards and specific equipment. How can we attain information about equipment that meets standards but may have more injuries (or repairs) than others — either by brand, or even more specifically by piece? Some companies share they think x piece from a competitor isn’t safe. After equipment that meets standards and is installed to meet CPSI standards, is there any compilation of equipment injuries? Thanks!
You will have to do your own search on the US CPSC Web site once you enter their injury database. You can do your own searches but you probably will not know whose equipment it is just the type or style of equipment.