Lynnel Crockart, Director of Playground Safety Inspectors Australia (PSIA) and Play Safe Institute, is pleased to introduce themselves as a standing committee member of Standards Australia CS-005 (Playground Equipment), representing Sports and Play Industry Association (SAPIA) on matters relating to playground and surfacing standards. CS-005 is the committee responsible for the AS 4685 series and AS 4422, and SAPIA has an active seat at that table.
AS 4422 (Int):2022 – what “Interim” means and where we are at now
AS 4422 (Int):2022 (Playground surfacing — Specifications, requirements, and test method) was published as an Interim Australian Standard on 25 November 2022, with an expiry date shown as 25 November 2024. Importantly, the document itself explains that an Interim Standard has a set “currency” period, after which it may be superseded, extended/confirmed, or withdrawn.
Even with the “Interim” label and expiry date, AS 4422 (Int):2022 continues to be listed by Standards distributors as Current, and it remains the key published reference used across procurement, audits, and compliance conversations until a superseding edition is released.
Update on the AS 4422 revision (CS-005)
The AS 4422 revision is currently under review by the CS-005 Committee.
The current expectation is that a draft will be circulated for full committee review within approximately one month. Following that:
- Committee comments will be resolved and final content agreed
- Once formally agreed, Standards Australia typically requires ~6 months for final editing, formatting, and publication
Subject to timely resolution of comments, publication is therefore anticipated approximately 6–7 months from circulation of the draft for full review.
Why this matters: AS 4422 exists for injury prevention and defensible compliance
AS 4422 is not “paperwork for paperwork’s sake”. The Standard’s purpose is to provide a test method to measure conformance with impact thresholds that if exceeded are more likely to be associated with serious (acute) brain injury outcomes from falls/impacts onto surfaces.
That’s why on-site testing procedures and reporting detail matter. AS 4422 includes specific sections addressing on-site testing, operating conditions (including temperature and moisture effects), and test reporting requirements.
Industry note: impact testing quality is only as strong as the procedure and the report
It has come to our attention that some surface impact testing services within the market are not consistently operating in line with AS 4422 on-site procedures and reporting requirements.
A brief “handover” provided at the time of purchasing an impact test device is often focused on how to operate the device, not how to correctly apply the Standard’s method, select and record test locations, manage operating conditions, or produce a report that is technically defensible.
Examples of gaps we continue to see include:
- Omitting surface depth/thickness verification (as applicable)
- Not recording surface temperature, weather conditions, or moisture context
- Poor documentation of test points/positions and rationale
- Treating a single drop result as the “final fail answer” without completing the Standard-aligned 4-drop sequence needed to determine/confirm Critical Fall Height
This isn’t about criticism of any one provider, it’s about raising consistency across the industry so that surfacing performance results are reliable, comparable, and defensible when scrutinised.
Training solution: “Safety Essentials – Playground Surface Impact Tester” (PSIA + Play Safe Institute)
To address this competency gap, industry experts Lynnel Crockart and Grant Humphreys have collaborated to develop the Safety Essentials: Playground Surface Impact Tester course – designed to train, educate, and assess those who undertake (or rely on) surface impact testing.
This program is delivered jointly across our training brands PSIA and Play Safe Institute, with the benefit of real-world surfacing testing expertise through Grant Humphreys (President, SAPIA; Director, AcoustoScan and PlayTest).
Who the course is for
This course is not just for on-site testers. It’s for:
- Asset owners and managers (council, education, childcare)
- Designers, manufacturers, installers, and maintenance contractors
- Consultants and auditors who must interpret reports
- Anyone who needs to understand surfacing performance and compliance in a way that stands up to procurement scrutiny and if ever required independent review
Why certification is becoming the benchmark
As with other established industry credentials, we expect evidence of current competency in surface impact testing (procedure + reporting) to increasingly be:
- Specified in tenders
- Used to define preferred suppliers
- Required as part of risk management and due diligence for playground owners/operators
Because when head-impact risk is involved, “someone did a drop test” is different from “we have a compliant procedure and a defensible report.”
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Next Courses / Connect with me / Contact details
To view our upcoming courses (national calendar and state delivery options), please visit https://playsafeinstitute.com/training-calendar/ or contact us.
For further information about the Standards update, training, or surfacing compliance, please reach out:
Lynnel Crockart – Playground Expert Partner | Lead Trainer & Assessor – Play Safe Institute
Director – Playground Safety Inspectors Australia (PSIA) | Play Safe Institute (Perth, Australia)
https://playsafeinstitute.com/contact-us/
Grant Humphreys – Surfacing Expert Partner | Trainer – Play Safe Institute
Director – Acoustoscan & Playtest (Sydney, Australia)
https://acoustoscan.com.au/
