Indoor Playground Safety
By Fran Wallach
Page 1, 2
The concept of what is safe on the playground has changed drastically from the 1940's and the decades that followed, when asphalt was recommended as the surface of choice under play equipment because it was easily maintained and considered to be safer than concrete. Today we understand the severity of injury that can be caused by impact with a hard surface, and we no longer use asphalt as playground surfacing. Nor do we use maypoles and whirls with openings in the platforms. It is therefore, critical to examine our playgrounds, many of which are aging and obsolete.
Since 1981, when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued its first set of guidelines for making public playgrounds safer, we have seen a major increase in the number of lawsuits instituted for playground injuries against park departments and school districts. The contents of the 1991 CPSC Handbook for Public Playground Safety served as the criteria against which playgrounds equipment could be measured, and this publication has become the state-of-the-art source for accident claims. Little attention was paid, initially, to this Handbook, since the publication provided recommendations or guidelines, not mandated regulations. But, as the Handbook gained credibility in the courts, it became obvious that, mandated or not, adherence to the Handbook recommendations were critical. Those who chose to ignore them were vulnerable to negligence charges for failing to use federal guidelines to make safer play environments for their children.
In November, 1991, the CPSC issued a revised version of the Handbook, with critical changes from the 1981 edition. The most important of these changes addressed a new age grouping. The earlier guidelines were written for equipment to service the 5 to 12 year olds; the 1991 version now included safety recommendations for ages 2 to 12 years. As a result, there have been changes in rung spacings, to include the head and body measurement of the preschooler, to prevent head entrapment and strangulation on the equipment. Several play components, such as sliding poles and full arch ladders, were not recommended for the under 5 users; different recommendations for each age group were given for guard rails and protective barriers.
In 1986 the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) created a task group to develop a standard for playground surfacing, the cause of a majority of severe injuries in the playground falls. In 1988 the ASTM approved a new committee, F15.29, to develop a set of safety standards for public playgrounds and play areas. And, on 1990, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, after commissioning a study and a review of the existing guidelines, and surfacing testing, issued a report on safety surfacing and began revisions on the 1981 Handbook.
In April of 1991 the ASTM published a new standard for playground surfacing. The standard, F1292, provided the testing methods necessary to test the shock absorbing properties of surfacing, to measure the impact attenuation abilities of a playground surface. The G-max for the test is 200 (as previously recommended by the CPSC), and the laboratory tests are clearly defined. This standard is primarily directed to the producers of playground surfaces, and they will then be able to certify to purchasers that their products meet the 200g benchmark.
The CPSC and the ASTM, working together, have developed a comprehensive package for the public. The CPSC revised its guidelines, which were published in November, 1991. These quidelines carry many changes. The new Handbook is only one volume, directed to the public. The technical information on public use playground equipment safety has now been published by ASTM. The new standard, F1487-93, contains the measurements and testing procedures for public playground equipment, as well as use zones and maintenance requirements.
There are differences in the CPSC Handbook and the ASTM Standard. A comprehensive comparison study currently underway will be available shortly, but there are some examples that can currently be compared.
1. The CPSC Handbook calls for the use of materials which have demonstrated record of durability in the playground. If taken literally, this recommendation would not allow for the use of new materials. F1487 allows for new materials and requires that they be tested for durability by the manufacturer.
2. The CPSC Handbook addresses the burning potential of bar or painted metal surfaces on platforms and slide bedways; ASTM does not address this situation.
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