Wausau Insurance Sponsors National Playground Safety Institute Program to Encourage Inspector Certification

WAUSAU, Wis., April 30 /PRNewswire/ — The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates more than 200,000 children are treated for playground accidents each year — and that’s a significant risk for school districts, counties, and municipalities. Fortunately, thanks to the National Recreation and Park Association, the Wisconsin Park & Recreation Association and Wausau Insurance, a National Playground Safety Inspector Certification Course will be held this fall in Wisconsin. Participants will learn how to make their playgrounds safer and perhaps avoid the tragedy and cost of a serious playground accident.

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The training session, which includes an on-site playground visit, will be held at the Radisson Hotel in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Nov. 2-3. The course is pre-approved for 1.2 CEUs and will be conducted by nationally known playground safety experts from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. An optional certification exam will be held in the same location on Nov. 4 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

  The course will provide information on how to:

  — Identify hazardous playground equipment,

  — Test for protrusion, entrapment or entanglement exposures,

  — Use appropriate risk management tools, and

  — Familiarize yourself with basic legal obligations and national safety

     guidelines.

Anyone whose job includes playground safety responsibilities is invited to take the course. It is the only National Playground Safety Inspector Certification Course held in Wisconsin in 2008. Costs for the two days of classroom training are $475 per person (or $400 per member), plus $150 per person (or $100 per member) for the certification examination. Registration forms can be obtained from Edward Steele, loss prevention technical consultant at Wausau Insurance (715.847.8826 edward.steele@wausau.com) or by visiting http://www.nrpa.org/ or http://www.wpraweb.org/. Pre-registration is required and must be completed at least 30 days before the event.

Wausau Insurance (http://www.wausau.com/) is a national property and casualty company, providing commercial auto, general liability, property, umbrella, workers compensation and other coverage. Wausau was founded in 1911, when the company issued the first insurance policy under the nation’s first constitutional workers compensation law. Wausau has been part of the Liberty Mutual Group since 1999, a diversified global insurer that ranks 94 on the Fortune 500 list and is the sixth largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2007 direct written premium.

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Source: Wausau Insurance

CONTACT: Brad Zweck, Manager, Communications and Public Affairs of
Wausau Insurance, +1-715-842-6570, brad.zweck@wausau.com

Web site: http://www.wausau.com/