Playground Equipment Safety

Air Date: 4/5/2004

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Each year, more than 200,000 children go to U.S. hospital emergency rooms with injuries associated with playground equipment. Most injuries occur when a child falls from the equipment onto the ground. Many backyard play-sets are placed on dirt or grass–surfaces that do not adequately protect children when they fall.

Safety Checklist

• Install and maintain a shock-absorbing surface around the play equipment. Use at least 9 inches of wood chips, mulch, or shredded rubber for play equipment up to 7 feet high. If sand or pea gravel is used, install at least a 9-inch layer for play equipment up to 5 feet high. Or, use surfacing mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials.
• Install protective surfacing at least 6 feet in all directions from play equipment. For swings, be sure surfacing extends, in back and front, twice the height of the suspending bar.
• Never attach–or allow children to attach–ropes, jump ropes, clotheslines, or pet leashes to play equipment; children can strangle on these.
• Check for hardware, like open "S" hooks or protruding bolt ends, which can be hazardous.
• Check for spaces that could trap children, such as openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs; these spaces should measure less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches.
• Make sure platforms and ramps have guardrails to prevent falls.
• Check for sharp points or edges in equipment.
• Remove tripping hazards, like exposed concrete footings, tree stumps, and rocks.
• Regularly check play equipment and surfacing to make sure both are in good condition.
• Carefully supervise children on play equipment to make sure they are safe.

Parent Supervision

Parents can help prevent playground accidents by taking some precautions ahead of time and ensuring adult supervision and age appropriateness of any outside equipment on which their children play.

Adults should always supervise their child during trips to the playground. The CPSC estimates that almost half of injuries to children could have been prevented with proper supervision. Young children (and sometimes older ones) cannot always gauge distances properly and aren't capable of foreseeing dangerous situations by themselves.

Adult supervision can help prevent injuries by making sure kids don't engage in unsafe behavior and improper use of the playground equipment. But in the event that an injury does occur, adult supervision also allows for quick first-aid action to be taken. Before you visit a neighborhood playground, check to make sure that play areas are designed to allow a parent or teacher a clear view of children on all equipment.

Occurrence and Consequences

• About 45% of playground-related injuries are severe—fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations, and amputations.
• About 75% of nonfatal injuries related to playground equipment occur on public playgrounds. Most occur at schools and daycare centers.
• Between 1990 and 2000, 147 children ages 14 and younger died from playground-related injuries. Of them, 82 (56%) died from strangulation and 31 (20%) died from falls to the playground surface. Most of these deaths (70%) occurred on home playgrounds.
• In 1995, playground-related injuries among children ages 14 and younger cost an estimated $1.2 billion (Office of Technology Assessment 1995).
• While all children who use playgrounds are at risk for injury, girls sustain injuries (55%) slightly more often than boys (45%) (Tinsworth 2001).
• Children ages 5 to 9 have higher rates of emergency department visits for playground injuries than any other age group. Most of these injuries occur at school (Phelan 2001).

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