GUIDANCE ON THE PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT
Providing new equipment and facilities or just replacing that damaged, worn out or vandalised requires careful appreciation of more than just the end purchase price.
There exist many examples of operators that to their best understanding have carefully followed the laid down tender procedures that have ended up with an item that meets all their ordered criteria yet does not satisfy their overall expectation. All too often this is due to like for like replacement, without appreciation of specification changes, current user and operational needs or unawareness of what is commercially available.
In many instances a like for like replacement is the standard route as this is the easiest path through the procurement matrix, yet in many instances an identical replacement is no longer appropriate and an alternative item addressing a different need should have been sourced.
Before any new purchase order is placed an audit of the overall facility should be undertaken. This needs to address whether items or facilities have been, albeit over time and different management regimes, duplicated and are the facilities addressing current and future needs. The remaining lifespan of all the items need’s also to be assessed as items are often purchased together and lifecycles consequently often end not far apart.
Importantly every opportunity for a new purchase should rigorously involve the assessment of the ‘user value’ of the item and the overall facility that it relates to. All too often within established facilities it is questioned why is that item still there, its never used. There is a need to specifically address what items are still needed and what scope exists to improve opportunities for the end user, after all that’s really why the facilities are there in the first place.
Within the specific needs of Gymnasia, Sport and Children’s Playground facilities there are additional specific needs that should be addressed:
GYMNASIA
With the curriculum sessions time is tight and user group sizes often large. One of the main criteria on equipment usage is the time availabile to extract the items from the store, assemble and disassemble them safely and return them to store whilst controlling the pupils. This is ever more difficult in multi use areas were assembly and lunch time arrangements come into play.
The size and tidiness of the store room remains the continual bone of contention, is it ever large enough, and are the items remotely accessible, especially after …………. has used it. Here, all to often lie the bad purchase decisions of the past and the positive opportunities for the future. Is all that equipment really required what a good would sort out reveal on items that are actually needed and will be regularly used. What all too often is needed is simple racking or shelving, rarely is dedicated space provided for each range of items, apart from the floor and corner that is.
Don’t chuck that away it may come in useful, appears to be the phrase that should be posted ironically on the back of any store door. Yet what provision policy is being followed indeed is there even one? Are all those benches and balance items required or indeed all and spring bucks and table tops, what are the needs for the current curriculum and should that not be the determinate on retaining existing items and authorising future purchases.
CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUNDS
These facilities involve a different decision focus as their capital cost and operational safety require more management involvement due to their usage being to a high degree unsupervised. Unlike gymnasia and sport facilities which directly involve professional tuition/supervision.
However yet again the user group’s needs should be the first priority and duplication avoided. Importantly here rests the need for the provision of impact absorbent or safety surfaces and all to often money is wasted by incorrect choice or provision around items that either need replacing or intrinsically hold too many safety problems. Again a careful audit is necessary so that a range of play opportunities are provided to encourage children to play rather than quickly become board with all those balance items.
SPORTS
Often seen as the simple solution, just white line marking paint and a few good old timber goal posts.
Unfortunately this disassociated attitude has increasing resulted in operators becoming involved in legal difficulties where users have been maimed or even died by collapsing goal posts and cross bars. In the case of line markings hospital admission has occurred as a result of skin damage from chemical or abrasive burns through the incorrect line marking compound being used.
Guidance from the British Standards Institution and the Football Association promulgated by the Department of Trade and Industry has now meant that no operator should be unaware of the dangers of using wooden goal posts and of the necessary safety criteria for their management, setting out and storage. Yet, unfortunately in appropriate equipment is still not being found on sites.