Playground safety is of paramount importance to both children and playground owners. It can be difficult to keep in mind all the various playground safety standards that playgrounds should adhere to, but, fortunately, there exist well-established playground safety guidelines that playground owners can refer to. This article will feature a playground safety checklist that will provide a quick and convenient source for playground owners to when seeking to ensure that they are meeting proper playground safety guidelines. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent government agency that, in addition to other services, determines the playground safety standards this article will outline. Whether installing a new playground or simply inspecting an existing one, it is important that playground owners know types of potential playground safety hazards to look out for. By frequently consulting the CPSC guidelines (primarily outlined in their “Public Playground Safety Handbook”) listed in this article, playground owners can be assured that they are taking a sensible approach to maintaining a safe play environment for children.
“Eco-Safety 3-inch” Rubber Playground Tiles
1.Twelve Inches of Surfacing:
Playground owners should make sure that surfaces around playground equipment have at least 12 inches of loose-fill material such as wood chips, mulch, pea gravel, or sand. Alternatively, surfaces surrounding playground equipment can also be equipped with mats made of safety-tested rubber or materials similar to rubber in lieu of the above-mentioned loose-fil material. These rubber playground mats can be of varying thicknesses, though rubber mats 2.5 inches thick are often considered to be sufficient flooring. Safe foundation padding is one of the most essential of the playground safety guidelines to ensure.
2. Protective Surfacing Extent:
One of the most critical playground safety standards to make sure of is the total area of a playground’s protective surfacing. Surfaces must extend at least 6 feet in each direction away from play equipment. In the case of swings, playground owners must be sure the surfacing extends twice the total height of the swing set’s suspending bar, in both the front and in back of the swing set in question. This is to guarantee that, should a child launch themselves too far forward or fall too far backward, they will be protected from the underlying hard playground foundation.
3. Maintain Correct Equipment Spacing:
Playground structures more than 30 inches high need to be spaced at least 9 feet apart from each other and all surrounding objects (such as light posts, benches, swing sets, etc.) The reasoning for this is that, should a child fall from atop a play structure, the risk of serious bodily injury is reduced if they simply fall onto the playground’s protective surfacing, as opposed to any hard play structures or equipment. Having playground equipment that is spaced 9 inches apart is a vital facet of any set of playground safety guidelines that provides the additional benefit of helping to abate the risk of a child becoming potentially stuck and injured while traversing a playground.
“Eco-Safety 3-inch” Rubber Playground Tiles
- Also good for patio and gym flooring
- Can be cleaned with a broom or wet mop
- Ideal as temporary flooring, can be moved from one place to another
- Contains EPDM rubber in order to function in harsh environmental situations
Soft Surfaces for Playgrounds: With a gauge of 3-inches each, these outdoor rubber mats are the thickest playground surfacing products currently available. Given the fact that kids play rough and often fall, parents can rest easy knowing that 3 full inches of rubber are there to cushion their children’s many trips and tumbles. Each of these 3-inch tiles have been tested and approved for 7 foot fall heights, making them among the safest rubber matting options currently available on the market. It is because of rubber’s elasticity that playground rubber matting has become popular across the country.
Unique Speckled Colors: These recycled rubber tiles stand out from the competition not only because of their 3-inch thickness, but also due to their color speckled appearance. Consumers have the options of getting their rubber surfaces for playgrounds in two forms: blue and white or yellow, red, and white speckles. This allows a playground flooring to have visual appeal matching the playground equipment.
4. Be Aware of all Potentially Dangerous Hardware/Equipment:
Playground safety guidelines also firmly recommend that all playgrounds be constructed without -and regularly inspected for- potentially dangerous hardware or equipment. Exposed nuts and bolts, splintered wood or metal playground parts, and open “S” hooks all present a very real danger to any child using a playground, even those with supervision. Additionally, steel wire, plastic bands, and any or all metallic fasteners, connectors and covering devices should be smooth and stably positioned so as to not cause laceration or penetration of any kind. Exposed or broken playground equipment can present a very real slicing or scrapping hazard and, as such, should be avoided and/or repaired at all costs.
5. Look Out for Entrapment Hazards:
Parents and playground owners need to make sure spaces that could potentially trap children (openings in guardrails, ladder rungs, elevated platforms, etc.) are either sufficiently narrow or excessively wide. Spaces less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches apart are ideal because they mitigate the ability of a child getting any part of their body caught within them. If the openings between playground guardrails or ladder rungs fall within that range, the likelihood of a child getting trapped within it is greatly increased. Noting and correcting all of a playground’s potential entrapment hazards prior to allowing children onto said playground is an important part of any thorough playground safety checklist.
6. Remove or Cover all Sharp Edges/Points:
All playgrounds must be free of any potentially dangerous sharp points or edges before children can be allowed to enter. Sharp points and edges pose particular danger when in high traffic playground areas. These points and edges can develop as a result of normal playground wear and tear, which can lead to their formation on virtually any playground surface, including slides and poles, where they are especially dangerous. Regular inspections are necessary to ensuring a playground remains free of sharp edges or points. All corners should be rounded, all wood parts should be splinter-free, all metal edges should be rolled (or be fitted with rubber caps) and all exposed tubing that does not rest on the ground should be plugged or capped in such a way that they cannot be removed without the use of tools.
“Eco-Sport 1-inch” Interlocking Rubber Flooring Tiles
7. Watch for Tripping Hazards:
Playground safety guidelines stipulate that a satisfactorily safe playground should be free of all tripping hazards. Common examples of such hazards are tree stumps, branches, rocks, plants, and concrete or metallic footings. Sudden changes in elevation also present a possible tripping hazard to any playground goers. To counter these issues, make sure any elevation changes are obvious and gradual and that any anchorings or footings for playground equipment are installed below ground level and lie beneath protective surfacing. Containment walls for loose-fill surfacing material also present a risk to playing children and should be painted a different color to the loose-fill material in order to make the potential hazard much more noticeable (and, thus, avoidable).
8. Install Barriers:
Platforms, ramps, and playground towers should all have protective barriers installed to prevent falls. It is recommended by playground safety standards outlined by the CPSC that elevated walking surfaces with fall heights of 18 inches that are specifically designed for toddlers (18-2 years old) all have barriers in place. As minimum elevation recommendations for barriers increase with age, playgrounds designed for preschool-age children (typically 2 to 5 years) should have barriers on platforms greater than 30 inches. Finally, school-age children (generally those over 5 years of age) playground platforms require guardrails on platforms with fall heights of 48 inches or greater. As per the CPSC’s “Public Playground Safety Handbook,” falls are responsible for 44% of all playground injuries. Because of this, no playground safety checklist would be complete without certifying that all platforms where falls are possible are secured with barriers or guardrails.
9. Inspect Playground Drainage Capabilities:
Stagnant or puddled water present in playgrounds poses both slipping and sanitary risks. Large amounts of sitting water can allow for the breeding of insects and may act also as a collector of playground dirt and grime. Should a child ingest such water, serious illness may occur. Additionally, puddles can cause a great degree of slippage and should be dealt with accordingly. Ensuring that a playground has sufficient water drainage capabilities is a crucially important playground safety guideline. Children should naturally be prevented from entering any playground displaying signs of large amounts of puddled water.
Inspect for Peeling Paint: Peeling paint (especially lead paint) can be a common playground hazard that should not be overlooked. Peeling, chipped, or cracked paint can cause damage to children if ingested. It may also cause children pain if it enters the eye. Lead paint is especially dangerous as it is inherently poisonous to humans, even in relatively small quantities. Guarantee all damaged painting is corrected (and preferably lead-free) before allowing children access to a playground. As easily overlooked as this hazard can be, it nevertheless remains an important part of any exhaustive set of playground safety guidelines.
10. Inspect of General Upkeep:
The general upkeep of a playground is directly pertinent to its usability; a poorly kempt play area will be an unused and/or potentially dangerous play area. Removing all user modifications to equipment, such as ropes or chains affixed to play structures will go a long way to maintaining a safe playground that is in line with the manufacturer’s specifications. Additionally, it is important to make sure the playground is free from all debris and litter and that all trash receptacles are properly marked as such and present. Should the overall upkeep of the playground give off a poor impression, that can be a good indicator that the structural integrity and/or security of the playground is itself compromised. To say the least, an unsecure playground is in direct opposition to one that satisfactorily follows appropriate playground safety standards.
Maintaining a safe play environment for children is the most important thing a playground owner can do. Following the playground safety guidelines listed in this article is a sensible and doable task that any playground owner should perform. By inspecting a playground in accordance with the playground safety checklist detailed above, the security of that playground can be assured through a simple, step-by-step process that focuses on multiple potential hazard areas. The above recommendations from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission should he heeded and adhered to by all playground owners looking to fulfill their obligation of providing a safe and secure playground that meets all adequate playground safety standards.
- Traction Qualities: The surface texture of the rubber mats makes for a slip-resistant surface that will help reduce trips and falls and kids land on the mat.
- Increased Safety: The rubber surface reduces the uneven ground surface that may have developed due to wear and increase safety by evening out the ground level.
- Ground Wear Protection: The 5mm thick rubber playground slide mat is the ideal gauge to added a layer of wear surface above your playground surface.
Inexpensive Floor Protection:
A rubber mat for bottom of a slide is an ideal way to protect playground floors. Playground slides mats are a useful tool in maintaining the lustre of a playground and adding life to heavy impact and traffic areas under playground slides. Wear by abrasion will cause erosion over time. In a playground play areas will wear from repeated impact and contact. This form of wear is caused by contact between shoes and playground floor material. Since the landing area of a slide is immovable, the surface around the landing location will always suffer more damage and ear than other parts of a playground. If a playground’s floor surface is made from rubber tiles, pour-in-place rubber or turf, this abrasive wear will cause a loss of material by the passage of hard shoes over the surface. The damage to playground flooring can be expensive and pre-empting the damage by using a rubber mat for the playground slide’s landing surface that will protect your investment.
