Keep Your Public Playground Equipment Safe
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) established guidelines to promote public playground safety. This comprehensive handbook is intended to promote increased safety awareness for anyone purchasing, installing, or maintaining a public playground. Equipment intended for children's use in areas including:
- Non-residential child care facilities
- Institutions
- Dwelling for multiple families
- Parks
- Restaurants
- Resorts and recreational developments
- Schools
- Other areas for public use
Playground Design Tips to Reduce Hazards
The CPSC has done testing and research on the many different hazards and ways to reduce them. In addition to referring to the CPSC Public Safety Handbook, consider the following recommendations:
- Install a protective surface underneath all playground equipment to reduce likeliness of serious head injuries.
- Protective surfacing should extend six feet in all directions around the playground equipment.
- Swings should have protective surfacing in front and back of the swing to a distance that is twice the height of the bar from which the swing is suspended.
- Regularly check equipment such as nuts, bolts, caps, chains, and cables and replace if needed. Surface mats and loose-fill surfacing should be maintained at their appropriate level.
- Openings in guardrails or ladders need to be smaller than three and a half inches to prevent entry of a small child’s body, or larger than nine inches.
- There should be no openings that can trap a child’s head or neck, such as openings in guardrails or ladders.
- Playground equipment should be anchored to the ground. All anchors should be buried or covered to prevent tripping.
- NO ropes, pet leashes, or cords of any kind should be attached to play equipment.
- Platforms and ramps over 30 inches high need to have guards or barriers to prevent falls.
- All sharp points or edges should be repaired, and any missing hardware should be replaced.
View the Public Playground Safety Handbook provided by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for additional information.
If you are a business owner and considering adding a playground to your facility, talk to your Independent Insurance Agent about proper insurance coverage. The IMT Loss Control Department has resources available to help agents and insureds assess safety and injury prevention.
