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Risk Alerts

Make a safe place for kids to play

Each year in the U.S., roughly 200,000 kids are treated for injuries that happen on playgrounds. As the weather improves and children play outside more, districts need to take precautions to protect students from injuries and the district from unnecessary claims and lawsuits. 

The "Handbook for Public Playground Safety," published by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, outlines basic equipment and design recommendations to provide a play environment that limits the potential causes of injuries. These guidelines are based on voluntary ASTM F1487 standards which govern technical playground design for manufacturers, architects and designers. While these guidelines are not code and enforceable by a fining agency, they do help to promote safe playground design and equipment and following them will help your district's defense should an injury occur.

There are five key recommendations to be aware of when reviewing your play areas:

• Provide adequate shock absorbing materials - Shock absorbency can be provided with either loose fill materials or solid material designed for cushioning. Recommended loose fill materials include wood chips, double-shredded bark mulch, engineered wood fibers, fine sand, coarse sand, fine gravel, medium gravel and shredded tires. Depending on the height of play equipment, surfaces should have a consistent 6-12 inches of shock-absorbing material. 
• Establish fall zones - Each piece of stationary equipment should have a minimum of six feet around it in all directions that is free of ground hazards and is covered with sufficient shock-absorbing material. When fall zones must overlap due to space constraints, there should be a minimum of nine feet between structures over 30 inches tall. Swing sets are the exception to the six-foot rule, and their fall zone should extend two times the height of the swing fulcrum in front and behind the swing's center. 
• Maintain safe hardware - Equipment should be checked regularly for extensive wear and tear, protruding bolts and pinch points. Chains should not have open "S" hooks and should be replaced when there is 50% wear of the chain's gauge. Nuts, bolts and support bars should be flush to the play surface. 
• Eliminate entanglement and entrapment hazards - Any protruding item which may catch children's clothing and strings can be an entanglement hazard. These openings or snags should be filled in or made flush with their surrounding surface. Any opening which is greater than 3« inches but less than 9 inches could entrap a child's head, arm or leg and should also be eliminated. 
• Conduct monthly inspections - One of the most effective safeguards for any district is to document monthly inspections of the equipment. This will not only assist the district in quickly identifying any hazards which arise from normal wear and tear, but also provides a record when hazards are identified and mitigated. A sample monthly checklist is available through the CPSC or by contacting the PACE Loss Control Department at 800-285-5461. 

Regular inspection and maintenance can take time and money, but it is critical to the safety of students. PACE's loss control team is ready to help with safety inspections, additional information and training. Contact Scott Neufeld, PACE loss control manager, sneufeld@sdao.com.

Download the "Handbook for Public Playground Safety" from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/325.pdf.