There is quite rightly much emphasis on keeping children safe in early years settings with a duty to minimise risk in all situations. However, children need and instinctively want to be able to take risks in order that they can test their abilities and strengths. What better environment for them to do so than that of an early years setting where practitioners will already have removed hazards not readily identifiable to young children and will provide well managed opportunities for appropriate ‘risk taking' to take place for example, climbing to the top of the climbing frame, building a very tall tower of bricks and then knocking it down, or simply climbing the stairs. Children need support to take these risks as part of their learning and development.
Children with disabilities do not always have the freedom of choice of their non-disabled peers, yet have the same need for opportunities to take risks. It is the responsibility of early years practitioners to assess and manage the level of risk in the environment so that all children in their care have the opportunity to experiment and extend their abilities without the risk of undue harm.
When creating a safe environment for children, practitioners must consider their legal duty to identify and reduce or eliminate risk, but should also take into account those risks which are proportionate/acceptable too. The risk of falling off larger play equipment is quite high, however the risk of harm is minimised by ensuring that there is adequate supervision, correct positioning of the equipment (away from windows, or walls), crash mats, no overcrowding and some "rules" set by adults in accordance with individual children's level of understanding. The benefits will include children being able to expand their skills, as they climb higher, reach further, or balance for longer, but also experience the consequence of taking risks beyond their current ability.
Managing Risk in Play Provision: A Position Statement discusses the balance between the benefit and need for children to play against the duty of providers to provide safe play and is written for those involved in any kind of play setting.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/sectors/cactus/5_02_15.pdf