Co-founder of Playground Safety Services Incorporated (PSSI), Roger Davis believes in “SAFE Outdoor Learning Environments for ALL” and has made “Play it Safe!” the motto of his company.1 He is also the President of PlaySpection, a division of PSSI-Playstruction that produces playground audit and inspection software.
Roger began by working in the Buildings and Grounds Division of the City of Shelby Parks & Recreation Department in 1975. He earned an Associate Degree in Applied Science in Operations Management, Project Management from Cleveland Community College in Shelby, North Carolina.2 He also completed the two year Parks and Recreation Maintenance Management School through the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management and Continuing and Professional Education at North Carolina State University and the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).3
For the city of Shelby, Roger served as Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, and for Cleveland County he performed audits and inspections of the child care centers.4 In 1995, after 20 years of recreation management and play space safety work, Roger and Donnis Davis co-founded Playground Safety Services Incorporated (PSSI). That same year, Roger became a Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI) through the National Playground Safety Institute (NPSI).
Based in Shelby and with Roger as President, PSSI expanded to become a playground vendor that offers commercial playgrounds, splash parks, dog parks, exercise equipment, surfacing, shelters, and site amenities throughout the Southern states of the United States.5
For two years beginning in 2000, Roger served on the Board of Trustees of the National Playground Contractors Association (NPCA). Six years later he returned to the Board of the now National Playground Contractors Association Inc. (NPCAI) as Chair-elect (2008-2010) and Chairman (2010-2012). Under his leadership the NPCAI established a Workers Compensation Policy for all playground contractors who qualify.6
During this time Roger also developed the PlaySpection software that assists with playground maintenance through a PEAS (Playground Exposure Analysis Summary) scoring system. The software also links to safety standards, lists corrective actions to make, calculates “cost-to-cure” estimates, creates official notifications, and provides storage of all actions and inspections.7 After utilizing PlaySpection personally for five years, in 2010 he began offering the software to the public under the PSSI-Playstruction division of PSSI.
After over 31 years in the Government Venue, Roger retired in 2007 to devote his time to focusing on his growing company.
- 1. “About Us!” Playground Safety Services, Inc. < http://www.playgroundsafetyservices.com/aboutus.html > 29 Oct. 2012.
- 2. “Roger Davis.” LinkedIn. < http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=46487084&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=97LQ&locale=en_US&srchid=1114384371370627361280&srchindex=1&srchtotal=1532&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A1114384371370627361280%2CVSRPtargetId%3A46487084%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary > 29 Oct. 2012.
- 3. “Professional Development.” National Recreation and Park Association. < http://www.nrpa.org/mms/ > 7 June 2013.
- 4. Op.cit., “About Us!”
- 5. Playground Safety Services, Inc. < http://www.playgroundsafetyservices.com/home.html > 7 June 2013.
- 6. Davis, Roger. Personal Interview of 7 June 2013.
- 7. “PlaySpection.” PlaySpection. < http://www.playspection.com/howplayspectionworks.html > 7 June 2013.
