04/01/11
Mitigating the Risk of Injury to Children Using Park Playground Equipment

As summer is approaching, now is a good time to review the hazards associated with public playground equipment. The U.S. Product Safety Commission has found that the majority of playground equipment related injuries treated in emergency rooms result from falls from equipment to the ground surface. Special attention should be paid to the surface material applied under and around equipment. Hard surfaces such as asphalt and concrete should never be under or around any equipment, unless they are required as a base for a shock absorbing unitary material such as a rubber mat. Cement anchors should not protrude through the ground, but should be buried and covered by adequate energy absorbing surface material.

Earth surfaces should not be relied upon, as they have poor shock absorbing properties. Grass and turf should not be used as cover, as environmental conditions can reduce their effectiveness in absorbing shock during a fall.

In order to more adequately protect children, either unitary (e.g., rubber mats) or loose-fill material (e.g., wood chips, bark mulch, engineered wood fibers, fine or coarse sand, fine or medium gravel or shredded tires) should be applied at a sufficient depth under and around all equipment. An exception to this would be for equipment that requires a child to be standing or sitting at ground level during play (e.g., sand boxes, activity walls, play houses and other equipment that have no elevated playing structures). With this equipment, earth surfaces or turf will suffice. Cement and asphalt will not.

Regardless of the type of material used, special attention should be paid to ensure that the material is of sufficient depth for the height of the equipment being used. The material should not only be applied directly under equipment but throughout the anticipated "use zone" or areas around the equipment where a child could be expected to fall.

If loose-fill material has been previously applied, now would be a good time to make sure that it is still of sufficient depth and has not compacted to the point where it is ineffective.

For further detail concerning resilient energy absorbing surface material options, depth requirements, etc., please consult the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Handbook for Public Playground Safety. A copy of this is located on the Online Resource Library.

Also, the CPSC has issued several alerts that animal swings are not recommended for public use, these swings can still be found today on public playgrounds.  Please help in the effort to provide safe facilities to our communities and remove these types of swings immediately.

The following checklist can be used to identify hazards that require immediate attention:

• Make sure all surfaces around playground equipment have at least 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand, pea gravel, or are mats comprised of safety tested rubber or rubber like materials.
   
• Protective surfacing must extend at least 6 feet in all directions from playground equipment. For swings, be sure surfacing extends, in the back and front, twice the height of the suspending bar.
   
• Equipment should not have sharp points or edges that could cut skin. Moving pieces of equipment, such as suspension bridges, track rides, merry-go-rounds or seesaws, should not have accessible moving parts that might crush or pinch a child's finger.
   
• Play structures should be spaced at least 12 feet apart, to allow children space to circulate or fall without striking another structure. Moving pieces of equipment should be located in an area away from other play structures, so children have adequate room to pass from one play area to another.
   
• Openings in guardrails and spaces between platforms and ladder rungs should measure less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches. Children can get trapped and strangled in openings where they can fit their bodies but not their heads through the space.
   
• Areas such as platforms, ramps and bridgeways should have guardrails to prevent falls.
   
• There should be no exposed concrete footings, abrupt changes in surface elevations, tree roots, tree stumps, or rocks, which can trip children or adults.
   
  
• Designate an employee to periodically inspect the play equipment as part of a preventive maintenance routine. This includes replacing missing, broken or worn components; securing hardware; checking for deterioration in wood, metal or plastic; maintaining the proper surfacing material; and cleaning up debris.
   
• Document all activities regarding playground safety. Documentation serves several purposes. It creates a paper trail of the park district's plan of action for playground hazards. It helps communicate the program to all people. It demonstrates that the park district is meeting its legal duty to provide safe playgrounds for public use.

By following the above recommendations, your park district should be able to provide a safe environment and protect your community's assets. The Online Resource Library is a valuable source for downloadable sample checklists, guidelines and policies for playground information.