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Public Playground Safety Checklist
Here are 10 important tips for parents and community groups to keep in mind
to help ensure playground safety.
- Make sure surfaces around playground equipment have at
least 12 inches of certified engineered wood fiber, sand, or pea gravel, or mats made
of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials
- Check that protective surfacing extends 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.
- Make sure play structures more than 30 inches high are spaced
a least 9 feet apart.
- Check for dangerous hardware, like open "S" hooks or
protruding bolt ends.
- Make sure spaces that could trap children, such as
openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs, measure less than 3.5 inches
or more than 9 inches.
- Check for sharp points or edges in equipment.
- Look out for tripping hazards, like exposed concrete
footing, tree stumps, and rocks.
- Make sure elevated surfaces, like platforms and ramps, have
guardrails to prevent falls.
- Check playgrounds regularly to see that equipment and
surfacing are in good condition.
- Carefully supervise children on playgrounds to make sure
they're safe.
Reproduced from: Handbook for Public Playground Safety, US
Consumer Product, Safety Commission, Washington, DC
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