Playground Guide - 2019 - 31

Innovative Certified
Playground Safety Inspectors
By Scott Belair, CCPI, CPSI, B.Sc.
When it comes to having CPSItrained employees on staff, there are
some obvious benefits to an organization, such as increased likelihood
of safe, compliant play spaces and
lower organizational liability. Another benefit is the perception of competency and professionalism that
comes with having certified staff on
hand to assess compliance, perform
repairs when appropriate, contract
repairs to industry professionals
when necessary and deal with play
space inquiries from the public, suppliers, vendors and others.
But, what are the personal benefits to individuals with a CPSI
certification? How does CPSI certification help you to further your
career? The primary benefit is increased knowledge of play-space
safety and known hazards to ensure
play-space safety better and with
confidence. Of course, there's more
than the one benefit.

Standout CPSIs
Becoming a CPSI increases your value to any employer by showing you
have the training, experience and
skills to contribute meaningfully to

an organization. Getting your certification can also signify your dedication to your career and to the field.
Since 2002, I have taught more than
100 sessions of the Canadian equivalent of the CPSI course. In those 17
years, there have been a few students
who stood out as empowered CPSIs:
Cyril the Carpenter

Cyril was a carpenter who sustained
a knee injury playing football during
his youth. After reaching middle
age, he had difficulty going up and
down stairs at work, so he submitted
his résumé to the local school district in hopes of finding less physically demanding full-time work
with better benefits and improved
job security. Fortunately, the school
district had an opening for a CPSI.
Cyril paid his own way through the
CPSI course on a government subsidy to re-train and was able to obtain
the job with the school district.

After starting his new job, Cyril
learned that the school district had
no inspection kit and lacked the money for a new one until the next budget period. But, he didn't let that stop
him from performing his job. Due to
his training, Cyril decided to take the
challenge head-on. His first task was
to make his own inspection kit so
he could carry out his job (without
having to wait until the next budget
period for the necessary tools).
After three years on the job, Cyril
came back to the course for recertification. As we headed to the play
space for field inspection, to the envy
of the other students, Cyril brought
out his homemade inspection kit. He
used his carpentry skills to go above
and beyond to contribute to his workplace and his community.
Steve the Arborist
Steve was an arborist by trade, employed by a local landscape firm that
was venturing into play-space site
prep and playground installation. As
this shift occurred, Steve was delegated to the playground department.
After completing his CPSI
training, one of Steve's first tasks
was to remove a dead tree near a
newly constructed play space. Coincidentally, the new play space
had no budget for site furnishings
(benches, picnic tables, garbage

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Playground Guide - 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Playground Guide - 2019