Fred Cahill, CPSI
Fred is a CPSI who has twenty years of public school playground experience. He works in Risk Management for the 11th largest public school district in the U.S. where he provides playground safety training for the school district staff. He is directly involved in all aspects of playground maintenance from approving plans for new installations to auditing and investigating playground accidents. During his 15 years in facilities services, Fred has managed new installation and replacement playground projects, and has been responsible for maintaining 323 playgrounds located at over 100 facilities.
Bill Hooker, CPSI, ARM
Bill Hooker is the Education and Training Supervisor for the Park District Risk Management Agency, an intergovernmental risk pool in Illinois. In addition to developing, presenting, and overseeing education and training, his responsibilities include risk management consulting, accident investigation and project management. He has presented nationally on a wide range of risk management, park and recreation, human resources and safety topics. Past experience includes work at school, park and recreation, municipal and insurance organizations. He is a Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI) and has over 28 years of experience in playground safety including: audits, inspection, installation, consultation and accident investigation. Bill was an integral part of the initial design team for the Playground Maintenance Program (PMT). He also serves as an instructor and agency liaison to the Eppley Institute regarding program updates.
Additional Professional Connections: Wood Dale Park District in Illinois, Wood Dale School District in Illinois, City of Bloomington, Illinois, Park District Risk Management Agency of Illinois
Kenneth S. Kutska, CPSI
Since retiring from the Wheaton Illinois Park District, Ken works an independent consultant and expert witness in many areas of safety specializing in play spaces for children. He also volunteers for various organizations involved in the play and playground industry. He currently is Executive Director of the International Playground Safety Institute, LLC. He is an instructor for the Eppley Institute Playground Maintenance Technician program and the NRPA Certified Playground Safety Inspector Program worldwide. He has spent more than 40 years working at the ground floor of many playground safety and maintenance initiatives.
Additional Professional Connections: Co- Founder of the NRPA CPSI Certification Program, US Play Coalition founding member, Past President National Park and Recreation Association, member American Academy of Park and Recreation Administrators, International Playground Equipment Manufacturers Association Voice of Play, and the ASTM International Subcommittee Chair of F15.29 for public playground equipment.
Antonio (Tony) Malkusak, PLA, CPSI
Tony Malkusak is a Landscape Architect receiving his degree from the University of Illinois. He started his career in parks & recreation and brings over 33 years of experience in creating & maintaining safe outdoor public environments. Since 2011, Tony is president and Landscape Architect for Abundant Playscapes where he lives his passion for play through his work. Tony specializes in three areas of play. The first is in playground safety. Besides being an instructor and trainer for the PMT, he has been an instructor for the Certified Playground Safety Inspector Program since 2000, Tony also does on-site playground audits, inspections and is a certified Triax operator to test playground safety surface impact attenuation performance. The second is inclusive play design, where he spent 10 ½ years as director of design for a United States national not-for-profit organization whose mission was to create inclusive play environments. His award winning inclusive designs had a profound impact on the lives of millions of children and families. The third area is creating nature-inspired play environments. Tony has taken his love of the natural environment and his passion for play to create many environments where nature children of all abilities grow, learn and play inspired through nature.
Additional Professional Connections: Tony currently is a member of the American Society for Testing and Materials International Sub-committee F15.29, an outside reviewer for PlayRight Inclusive Play Space Guide, and is on the US Play Coalition’s Advisory Board.
