PLAYGROUND SAFETY

1
PLAYGROUND SAFETY
2
Why is playground safety so important?

• 76 of injuries to children occur on public
  playgrounds
• 44 of all injuries are caused by falls
• Estimated 200,000 emergency room treated injuries
• Climbers are involved in more than 50 of these
  injuries
• Children between 2-9 account for 83 of injuries
• Some deaths caused by falls to hard surfaces,
  head entrapments, entanglements, and impact
  injuries.

3
Whats happened in the world of playground
safety?

• Changes to CPSCs Public Playground Safety
  Handbook that was updated November 2010
• EEC regulations effective January 2010 include
  a focus on hazards that may lead to injuries such
  as head entrapments
• QRIS includes outdoor environments and the use of
  the Environmental Rating Scales

4
Playground Safety is addressed in QRIS and ERS

• Category 2 of QRIS includes demonstrates
  healthy, safe and clean indoor and outdoor
  environments.
• The Environmental Rating Scale is the tool used
  for self assessment and assessment by a reliable
  rater of the indoor and outdoor environment.

5
Experience tells us that

• Children are being injured while using outdoor
  play equipment
• Some of the injuries may have been prevented with
  changes to the outdoor environment and with
  adequate supervision
• EEC staff continue to build on their knowledge of
  playground safety and assessment
• The provider community must be included in the
  plan for improving playground safety

6
Consumer Product Safety Commissions Public
Playground Safety Handbook

• Federal agency charged with protecting public
  from products that may cause injury or death
• CPSCs Public Playground Safety Handbook used
  by many states to develop regulations and policy
• The Environmental Rating Scales that are
  imbedded in QRIS use CPSCs Handbook as a guide
  for the assessments related to outdoor space and
  equipment.

7
Regulations related to Playground Safety

• 7.07 (7) Outdoor Space
• 7.07 (16)(e) Playground Safety
• 7.07 (13) Safety Requirements for Equipment,
  Materials and Furnishings
• 7.10 (5) Supervision

8
What does this mean for all of us?

• The goal is threefold
• To provide ongoing training to ensure that all
  licensing staff have a solid knowledge base so
  that clear, consistent information can be
  provided to programs
• To provide training and information for programs
  so that they have the tools and the knowledge to
  be able to assess and provide safe indoor and
  outdoor spaces for children in their care.
• To conduct enhanced playground inspections that
  will focus on surfacing, fall zones and
  entrapments

9
An enhanced inspection takes a closer look!
10
Revised EEC Policy

• Playground safety inspection will include using
  the 2011 EEC Playground Safety Policy that was
  built on the foundation of the 1997 Playground
  Safety Policy

11
Playground Safety Policy

• Focuses on 5 areas of concern
• - Equipment
• - Surfacing
• - Fall zones
• - Hazards including entrapments
• - Supervision
• Refer to Playground Safety Policy

12
Equipment

• Must be developmentally appropriate for the ages
  of the children using it.
• Must be free of hazards
• Must not be identified by CPSC as being unsafe
  for any age group

13
Surfacing

• Falls from equipment is the 1 cause of injury to
  children.
• The function of surfacing is to reduce the
  severity of injuries due to falls.
• The fall height of equipment
• will determine the amount of surfacing needed.

14
Determining Fall Height
15
Minimum Compressed loose fill surfacing depths
Inches of Loose-fill material Protects to fall height
6 Shredded/ recycled rubber 10 feet
9 Sand 4 feet
9 Pea gravel 5 feet
9 Wood mulch (non CCA) 7 feet
9 Wood chips 10 feet
16
Appropriate Surfacing

• Unitary Materials
• Rubber mats
• Tiles
• Poured surfaces
• All manufactured surfacing materials must meet
  ASTM standards.

• Loose Fill
• Pea gravel (not for infants/toddlers)
• Sand
• Shredded/recycled rubber mulch
• Wood mulch including engineered wood fiber
• Wood chips

17
Loose fill surfacing materials

• Compresses at least 25 over time
• Requires frequent maintenance
• May need a method of containment
• May be affected by the drainage and resulting
  standing water
• Loose fill material can not be used as the only
  protective surfacing over hard areas such as
  asphalt or concrete
• Surfacing installed over a hard area must be
  installed professionally according to CPSC
  guidelines

18
Hazards related to maintenance of surfacing
19
Fall zones

• The fall zone is the distance around each piece
  of equipment that will need surfacing
• In general fall zones must extend 6 feet around
  from the perimeter of any piece of equipment

20
Determining fall zones

• General requirements
• For composite structures, the fall zone must be 6
  feet from the perimeter
• Two pieces of equipment that are not more than
  30 high can share a use zone as long they are
  at least 6 feet apart.
• Two pieces of equipment that are over 30 high
  can share a use zone if they are at least 9 feet
  apart.

21
Determining fall zones for swings

• To and fro swings- The use zone is 2 x the
  distance from the pivot point to the surfacing
  and 6 out from the side poles

22
(No Transcript)
23
Fall zones for tire swings

• Tire swings- The use zone must be the distance
  from the pivot point to the tire plus 6 and 6
  out from the side of the poles .

24
Fall zones for bucket swings

• Bucket swings- The use zone
• must be 2 x the distance from
• the pivot point to the sitting
• surface and 6 out from the side
• poles

25
Surfacing and fall zone issues

• Lack of a fall zone with appropriate amount of
  surfacing material
• Exposed cement can be a tripping hazard and can
  cause head injuries

26
Entrapment Hazards

• Head entrapment areas are between 3.5 and 9
• The childs body can fit through a space that
  does not allow the head to pass through
• Applies to indoor as well as outdoor environments
• Even if the childs feet are on the ground, the
  child is in danger of strangulation

27
Another head entrapment hazard
28
Another entrapment hazard
29
Checking a partially bound opening
30
Hazards

• Routine inspection and ongoing maintenance is
  important
• Hazards might include
• -broken equipment
• -lack of surfacing
• -entanglements
• -head entrapments
• - weather related hazards such as frozen ground
• -metal equipment in direct sun light
• - inadequate shade

31
Supervision

• Supervision plays an important role in keeping
  children safe while on the playground.
• Programs should be encouraged to develop
  playground supervision and monitoring plan so
  that staff know and understand their
  responsibilities.
• Programs should train staff on how to
• effectively supervise the playground as well
• as how to monitor the playground environment.

32
Questions?