Playgrounds provide kids fresh air, exercise and socialization. However, each year children are treated in emergency departments for playground-related injuries. Look for a safety playground with impact-absorbing surfaces such as wood chips, sand or shredded rubber. Avoid hard surfaces like asphalt and concrete. Make sure your child wears clothing that won’t catch on equipment and is properly supervised while at the playground.
Safety Standards
Playground equipment can present a variety of hazards that can cause injuries to children. Every year, 200,000 children 14 years of age or younger are treated in emergency departments for playground-related injuries. Injuries can range from bruises to broken bones. Injuries resulting from falls account for the majority of injuries incurred on playgrounds. To minimize the risk, safety standards have been established to ensure that playground equipment is installed and maintained properly.
Protective surfacing must cover areas under and around all play equipment. The material must be soft to cushion a child’s fall. Acceptable surfacing materials include shredded/recycled rubber, wood fiber rubber mulch, pea gravel or sand. Surfaces must be free of tripping hazards and should not obstruct sight lines for supervisors. For example, a pathway should not lead directly to a slide or swing. Zones for different activities should be separate to prevent overcrowding. This can be achieved by separating each activity area with an accessible path made of poured-in-place or rubber tiles.
Surfaces
The surface under playground equipment is an essential element in preventing serious head injuries from falling. Falls on hard surfaces such as asphalt, blacktop, concrete, grass or packed dirt cause over 70 percent of playground injuries. The best surfacing for a 안전놀이터 offers impact attenuation, durability and accessibility. It must also meet ADA standards and be suitable for people with limited mobility.
Surfaces for playgrounds are available in many forms and must be carefully weighed against their initial costs and maintenance requirements over the life of the playground. For example, poured-in-place rubber is an attractive and durable option with a range of colors that can fit the exterior aesthetic of any facility. Another popular option is engineered wood fiber, which is an environmentally friendly material that absorbs shock well and is available in many colors. It’s important to know that EWF is not as durable as a bound surfacing, and it will degrade over time and must be “topped off” regularly.
Climbing Equipment
Kids love to climb, and adding equipment that lets them scale structures builds strength and coordination. It also helps improve directional awareness and spatial balance. However, climbing equipment causes the highest rate of injuries on playgrounds, so kids need to be closely supervised when playing on this type of structure. Climbing equipment should be padded well to absorb falls and reduce injury. This padding should be at a depth proportional to the height of the equipment. For example, pads for ladders should be at least 12 inches deep. The padding should be free of debris and splinters.
Kids should not wear necklaces or strings of any kind, as they could catch on the equipment and get caught up in it. They should also avoid bringing food or drinks on climbing structures, as they could fall off and injure themselves.
Supervision
Playgrounds are a great place for children to be active, explore creative ways to move and socialize with friends. But, playground injuries do happen, especially when equipment is not maintained properly or children ignore safety rules. Supervision is the biggest factor in preventing playground injuries. Parents, care givers and teachers should supervise children playing on playground equipment at all times.
School administrators, parks and recreation departments and community members should regularly inspect playground equipment and surfacing for hazards. They should also report any equipment that is in need of repair or has been damaged.
Final Thought
Teaching children about the importance of wearing closed-toed shoes and not putting their fingers in gears can help them avoid injury. In addition, making sure they use the right size clothing is important so their bodies can fit well and not be caught in equipment or entrapped between pieces of play structures
