The fear of taking your kid to a playground only for a swing to fail, sending your kid 15 feet up into the sky, is something no parent or kid should go through.
Public playgrounds should be a safe area for your kids. There could be surefire signs that the playground needs to be re-evaluated and worked on.
Why Playground Safety Is Important
There is only one reason, but this reason is the only reason you ever need, and that is to prevent injuries to your kids.
Every year over 200 000 kids are sent to the hospital emergency room with a playground-related injury.
It is essential to look for signs of failure in the playground area. Checking for improper flooring, faulty equipment and ensuring there is enough safe space is necessary.
Fall Protection Is A Must
Kids and even adults are prone to falling. For kids, this is a more common occurrence. The balance and coordination of kids are tested in these play parks. Having suitable absorption flooring will help reduce the damage your kid will take when they hit the floor.
It is essential to know what kinds of surfaces are recommended and which falls are not standard.
Recommended Flooring:
Sand
Pea gravel
Recycled rubber mulch
Wood mulch that was not CCA treated
Wood chips
Any other materials tested to ASTM F1292 standards.
Avoid flooring that will have a profound impact on your kids, like concrete, grass, asphalt, dirt, carpet, or CCA treated wood mulch.
Is There Adequate Spacing Between Playing Equipment
Your kids are curious little cookies. They twist and turn and try their darndest to explore any space they can. This can be dangerous if the playground has hazardous spaces.
By this, we were referring to kids’ ability to harm themselves by getting stuck between spaces.
If the play park has guard rails or borders for protection, it needs to follow specific safety standards. This is one of the more dangerous aspects of play parks and needs to be taken seriously. Head entrapment can lead to possible strangulation and even death.
There should be at least 3-5 feet of spacing between each play structure that allows for open space or easy maneuverability.
There has to be at least a 24-inch space between each swing set and 30 inches between the swing and the frame.
All openings for an enclosed area should be over 9 inches.
Structures that are less than 30 inches high require 6 feet of space.
Structures that are higher than 30 inches require 9 feet of space.
Your Metals and Wood Structures Are Rotting
Keeping rust to a minimum is the best possible way to make sure metal structures are solid and safe. Rust not only makes it a possible injury hazard, but it’s hazardous to kids consuming rotting materials.
Wood materials may cause splintering if it is not looked after. Splintering can be hazardous to kids and quite troublesome to remove. Use recommended woods like cedar or redwood, which are bug and rot-resistant.
A certified safety officer needs to inspect the playgrounds to ensure kids aren’t getting harmed in the same space they want to have fun in. These are vital signs to look out for in keeping injury to a minimum. After all, our kids are our world, and we don’t want to put them in any extra danger.
You can also visit Creative Recreational Systems for more information.
Austin Stanfel 