An Important Checklist For Ensuring Playground Safety

By Deborah Lambeth

You send your child off to school with the intention for them to have a good day, both in class and at play. Later in the morning, you get a call that your child has been injured on the playground and you need to go to the emergency room. Random scenario? Not at all. There have been numerous studies about children’s playground injuries that detail statistics and information critical to developing preventive measures that can be put in place to reduce these injuries. According to recent statistics, playground falls caused more than 225,000 children age 14 and under to go to the emergency room for treatment of playground injuries, ranging from bad cuts and bruises to broken bones and head injuries. Of that number, 70% of the injuries were on public playgrounds. And since public playgrounds are regulated by government agencies, they should be the safest of all, but that isn’t always the case. So before letting your child play on any playground, be sure to give it a once-over to be sure it’s safe.

A national survey conducted showed that in one year, hospital treatment was required by more than 31,000 children under the age of 5 who were injured by swings, nearly 25,000 who were hurt on slides, and nearly 13,500 who were injured on monkey bars. In nearly 60% of cases, children were hurt falling to the playground surface; 14% of the injuries were caused by falls that resulted in being struck by equipment; 18.5% were caused by impact with moving or stationary equipment; and nearly 7% resulted from contact with sharp points or edges, pinch points, or protrusions on the equipment.

Be Sure To Cushion Falls Appropriately
Playground surface materials play a primary role in safety because, for children, falling is an inherent part of rough-and-tumble play. Children can fall because they slip, lose their grip, or lose their balance while playing on monkey bars, swings, slides, merry-go-rounds, and seesaws. And the harder the surface a child lands on, the more likely a severe injury will result. Asphalt or concrete (hard surfacing materials) are unsuitable for use under and around playground equipment. Because they have poor shock-absorbing properties, soils and hard packed dirt are also not recommended. Similarly, grass and turf are not recommended because eventually these surfaces wear down and don’t provide enough protection from scrapes, cuts, and bruises, or more serious injuries. Today, acceptable playground surfacing materials are available in two basic types, unitary or loose-fill. Rubber mats or a combination of rubber-like materials are considered unitary surfaces because they are held in place by a binder that may be poured in place at the playground site and then cured to form a unitary shock-absorbing surface. Loose-fill materials such as sand, gravel, shredded wood products, and shredded tires can also have acceptable shock-absorbing properties as long as they are installed and maintained at a sufficient depth.

Be Sure Equipment Is Designed Well and Installed Correctly
The design, arrangement, and installation of playground equipment also can contribute to playground problems, particularly with young children. Most playground accidents involve "old fashioned" playgrounds with metal swings and monkey bars, asphalt or concrete surfaces, and play areas that are shared by children of varying ages. An overwhelming majority of public and private playgrounds in the United States are of the older type, and many of them have equipment and play areas that are essentially stages where accidents are waiting to happen. Often children are hurt not only by the fall but by being struck by equipment as they fall. The more modern and considerably safer playgrounds, with cushioned mats and other soft surfaces, wooden jungle gyms, and soft swings seats, are becoming more common but are still few and far between in America, particularly in urban areas. But even in modern playgrounds, close attention to design and location of equipment can make a considerable difference in safety.

Don't Forget Your Own Backyard
Children don’t always play just in public playgrounds, so there are also several important considerations for parents when installing backyard playgrounds. According to Hal Stratton, Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the most deadly danger in the backyard is posed by homemade rope swings, or accessories like dog leashes or belts that are attached to play sets. Such items account for a large number of accidental backyard strangulations. To make playtime safer, new standards call for all climbing ropes to be anchored at the top and bottom to prevent strangulation. All equipment should be firmly anchored, using anchoring devices or concrete footing that is set well below the surface to prevent tripping over them. Swing seats should be made of lightweight, impact-absorbing materials like plastic or rubber, and they should be sized so that only one child at a time can sit on them. Bucket-type seats should be used for toddlers, to prevent them from tipping backward or sliding off. The hangers at the top of a swing should be spaced slightly wider than the seat to reduce side-to-side motion. Slides should not have more than a 30-degree incline. The platform at the top should be at least as wide as the slide, at least 22" deep, and should be connected directly to the top of the slide. All elevated platforms in the play area should have guardrails that are two to three feet high for preschoolers and three to four feet high for older children.

While play by young children should never be unsupervised, if playgrounds are well designed and maintained they can make the job of the adult much easier. Each year, more than 200,000 kids go to the emergency room because of playground injuries. On average, about 15 kids die each year in playground incidents, with the majority of deaths occurring on backyard play sets. The good news is that because of updated guidelines, equipment, and safety surfaces the incidences of injuries have been lowered. But parents should still pay attention to any playground their children use, and keep an eye out for any problems that could cause injuries. If you see a problem in a public playground, notify officials immediately. If the problem exists in a backyard playground at your home or at a neighbor’s house, it’s easier to correct, but don’t put it off.

If you’d like more information about playground safety guidelines, you can contact the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' Prevent Injuries America® public service line at 1-800-824-BONES or order their "Play it Safe" brochure by sending a business-size, self-addressed stamped envelope to Play It Safe Playgrounds, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, P.O. Box 1998, Des Plaines, Ill. 60017.