Playground Key Safety Checklist

The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a Playground Safety Checklist that you may want to read. Each year, more than 200,000 children go to U.S. hospital emergency rooms with injuries associated with playground equipment. Please pass it on to schools and clubs by sending out the link below:
http://ecologicalmomblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/playground-key-safety-checklist.html

The Checklist include:

1. Make sure surfaces around playground equipment have at least 12 inches wood chips, mulch, sand, or pea gravel, or are mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials.
2. 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.
3. Make sure play structures more than 30 inches high are spaced at least 9 feet apart.
4. Check for dangerous hardware, like open “S” hooks or protruding bolt ends.
5. Make sure spaces that could trap children, such as openings in guardrails o between ladder rungs, measure less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches.
6. Check for sharp points or edges in equipment.
7. Look out for tripping hazards, like exposed concrete footings, tree stumps, and rocks.
8. Make sure elevated surfaces, like platforms and ramps, have guardrails to prevent falls.
9. Check playgrounds regularly to see that equipment and surfacing are in good condition.
10. Carefully supervise children on playgrounds to make sure they’re safe.

Source: CPSC