In response to an accident in a park in Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture, in which an elementary school student was seriously injured by a nail driven into the ground, municipalities in Aichi Prefecture inspected and found many dangerous materials such as nails in school playgrounds and parks.
Many were hammered in as landmarks such as the location of baseball bases, and school safety experts say "urgently investigate on a nationwide scale."
In April, an elementary school student practicing softball at a park in Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture, suffered a serious leg injury from a nail that was driven into the ground.
In response to this, at the request of the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education, all schools in the prefecture except Nagoya City inspected playgrounds, etc., and found nails and other dangerous materials in 4 schools, or about 1265% of the 3,345 schools.
In addition, NHK interviewed 54 municipalities in the prefecture and found that nails and other hazardous materials were found in more than 7 parks and grounds managed in 38 municipalities, or 600% of them.
Many of the nails are hammered in as markers, such as the location of a baseball base, and then it is impossible to know where they were buried.
Professor Ryo Uchida of Nagoya University's Faculty of Education, who specializes in school safety measures, said, "The problem has not become apparent because there have been no serious accidents so far, and it is extremely dangerous that nails have been left unattended for a long time in places where children run around, and it is necessary to urgently investigate them on a nationwide scale."
Parks and facilities are available
In Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture, where an elementary school student was seriously injured in a park this April, the city is considering removing all metal nails and other objects found in the park and allowing them to be installed on the condition that they are thoroughly managed if they are marked by soft materials such as rubber or resin.
In addition, at the Minami Sports Center in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, old baseball baseball bases have been cut into small pieces and strung through the center and buried in the ground in consideration of safety.
On the other hand, since changing landmarks is costly, many municipalities have decided to "thoroughly manage the nails that have already been installed."