Fact #1
Most injuries on playgrounds are caused
by falls.
Fact #2
Most fall injuries occur on inadequate
resilient surfacing areas.
Fact #3
Other severe injuries on playgrounds are
caused by
- head and limb entrapments
- protrusions
- worn equipment breaking suddenly
- drawstring entanglement
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Some
200,000 emergency room visits a year are attributed to playground injuries.
Of those, about 148,000 injuries involve public playgrounds (the
remainder happen on home playgrounds).
Guidelines vary between public playground
equipment and the structures designed for residential use. In most
areas of concern the problems are the same.
A very good source of more
information is the US Consumer Product Safety
Commission. Their "Guide to Public
Playground Safety" is a standard reference in the industry, is
a 47-page booklet with illustrations. Click here to view and/or download the guide in .PDF format.
A good distillation of important points is found in the Tips
For Public Playground Safety.
Wear on playground parts is
a very preventable cause of injuries. For examples of outdated parts, see our Gallery of Broken Playground
Parts f. |
