More than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger are treated in emergency departments for playground-related injuries each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also reports that about 75 percent of nonfatal injuries related to playground equipment occur on public playgrounds. Additionally, a New York City study discovered that playgrounds in low-income areas had more trash, rusty play equipment and damaged fall surfaces than in high-income areas.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF)---which operates under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services---said that Head Start programs using public schools or public playgrounds must comply with the local laws' safety requirements. If there are no laws, programs must comply with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Handbook for Public Playground Safety, which is 55 pages. The goals, according to the ACF, are to focus on "maintenance, repair, safety, and security of facilities, materials, and equipment as well as to maintain playground surfaces that minimize the risk of injury to children."
The CPSC also issued a Public Playground Safety Checklist for quick reference. The checklist advises playground supervisors to check for proper surfaces around equipment, for the proper distances between the equipment and for faulty and dangerous equipment. For example, the CPSC said that there should be at least 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand, pea gravel or safety mats made of rubber-like materials around surfaces of playground equipment. The checklist also urges you to inspect equipment for sharp points and to spot tripping hazards, including exposed concrete footings, tree stumps and rocks.
If there is a fall, the surface could make a big difference in a child's safety. Hard surfaces like asphalt and concrete are not safe enough to be under playground equipment, according to the Public Playground Safety Handbook. Natural surfaces like dirt and grass also aren't recommended because environmental factors and wear can diminish their shock-absorbing usefulness. Also, only carpeting and mats that meet the CPSC testing standards are allowed. The surface guidelines do not apply to equipment in which a child is sitting or standing at ground level like sand boxes.
Knowing what not to do is as important as knowing the proper guidelines. The Public Playground Safety Handbook said equipment that's not recommended for public playgrounds include trampolines, swinging gates, climbing ropes that aren't secured at both ends, heavy metal swings like those of animal figures, rope swings and multiple occupancy swings (except tire swings). Overhead hanging rings like those found in a ring ladder are allowed. However, rings and trapeze bars on long chains used for gymnastics are not recommended.