Playground supervisors should be acutely aware that:

• They are responsible for the safety of the children while on the playground. They should be diligent in watching, guiding, and controlling the behavior of the children. Playground duty is not a time for conversation, reading, or any activity other than actively supervising the children.

• Pre-school children require more attentive supervision than older children. None, however, are capable of self-supervision (a true oxymoron).

• Not all playground equipment is appropriate for all the children who may use the area. Appropriateness is related to age, to physical abilities and development, and to physical disabilities.

• The actions and behaviors of other children can lead to injuries of children from rough playing or "daring" others to do some trick they are not skilled to perform even if the equipment is technically age-appropriate.

• Definitions and notes:
• Guardrails¹ have three components: upper rail, middle rail, and toe rail. Combined, these rails prevent accidental penetration of the plane they protect. Openings between rails cannot be in the 3.5" to 9" range.
• Protective barriers² are screens with no opening large enough to accept a 3.5" sphere. They may be made of slats, lattice, or clear material (glass only if tempered and of adequate thickness) and must allow visibility of activity on the other side.
• The fall-zone³ for a piece of play equipment extends 72" beyond the perimeter of that item's footprint or beyond the perpendicular projection downward from the maximum overhead structure, whichever is greater. For swings, the general rule applies to the sides, but may be modified for the front and rear. That minimum dimension should be the greater of 72" beyond the perimeter of the braces or a measurement equal to twice the distance from the ground to the swing hanger extending both to the front and to the rear of the beam. Thus, if maximum dimensions of the apparatus are 12’ x 8’, the fall zone to be protected would be 24’ x 20’. If the equipment consists of swings or similar items suspended from a horizontal beam that is supported by a single post at each end, the fall area should extend 6’ beyond each end of the beam. If the swing hangers were less than 6' above the ground, the fall zone would extend 12’ to each side of the beam along its entire length. Thus, if the beam is 20’ long and 5' tall, the fall area would be 32’ by 24’. If the same beam was such that the swing hangers were 8' above the ground, the fall area would extend 16' along each end of the beam and would be 32' by 32'.
4 Companies listed on page 3 are given only as examples of the product type, with no endorsement being made by the Redwoods Group. For a more complete listing of manufacturers of playground surfaces, please see the listing provided by the National Program for Playground Safety at www.uni.edu/playground/tips.html.
• A guardrail¹ should protect any surface used by preschoolers that is elevated more than 20 inches above the ground. Any surface more than 48 inches above the ground should have a protective barrier².
• A guardrail¹ should protect any surface used by school-aged children that is more than 30 inches above the ground. Any surface more than 48 inches above the ground should have a protective barrier².
• Guardrails¹ and protective barriers² should completely surround the elevated platform they protect except for entrance and exit openings necessary to access the play space
• Guardrails¹ or protective barriers² should be 36" or 42" tall, depending on the age of the children being protected.
• Any platform more than 72 inches above the ground, with the exception of freestanding slides, should be provided with an intermediate standing surface. This will provide the child with an opportunity to halt the ascent and to pursue an alternative means of descent.
• A resilient surface should be provided for the complete fall-zone³ of all play equipment. This may be accomplished by any of the following:
• energy absorbing poured-in-place surfaces⁴ such as Tot Turf™ by Robertson Industries, 602-340-8873, www.totturf.com, or similar;
• energy absorbing tiles⁴, such as Kids Karpet™, by Garick, 800-2-GARICK, www.kids-karpet.com, or similar;
• a contained bed of loose material⁵ that provides energy absorption; standards require 12" of material except for certain proprietary materials (noted below); some specific considerations for any loose material include the following:
• ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements may not be met;
• a permeable liner that allows drainage is needed between the energy absorbing material and the drainage bed or soil beneath it to prevent mingling;
• retaining walls that do not create a trip hazard should be provided to prevent mixing of the material with the surrounding soil and its migration from the area;
• foreign objects and debris must be kept out of the material;
• depth should be maintained in heavy use areas, such as slide exits and under swings

some approved loose materials include:

• recycled (shredded or pelletized) tires⁴, such as Safety+Play™, by Safety+Play Structures, Inc., 800-331-1642, www.safetyplaysys.com, or others; (CPSC's The Handbook for Public Playground Safety recommends that persons who are considering the use of shredded tires as a protective surface obtain test data from the supplier showing the critical height of the material when it was tested in accordance with ASTM F 1292); some of these materials require a depth of only 6";



• engineered hardwood fiber⁴ such as Woodcarpet™, by Zeager Bros., 800-296-9227, www.woodcarpet.com, or similar; some of these materials require a depth of only 8";



• .5" clean round aggregate;
• round aggregate must not be allowed to commingle with sand or dirt, as the mixture will lose any energy absorbing quality;
• crushed aggregate should never be used;
• sand is a poor choice as it packs with use and moisture, is subject to freezing when damp, and is a convenient litter box for neighborhood cats;
• softwood playground chips
• wood shavings and sawdust are a poor choice because they pack and compress with time, moisture, and use, and sometimes is a nesting bed for vermin;
• bark chunks are a poor choice because they provide little resiliency
• other proprietary materials
• Anchoring devices for playground equipment should be installed significantly below ground level to reduce the chance of tripping and of a falling child striking the anchor.
• Potential tripping hazards should be eliminated or reduced. In addition to natural objects such as roots, stumps, and rocks, the retaining barrier used to contain resilient surfacing materials and the equipment anchors should be considered. Small variations in surface elevation can be as dangerous as large ones, as they are much more difficult to see.
• Any play equipment greater than 30 inches in height should be separated from other equipment by at least 9 feet.

 

AGE APPROPRIATE EQUIPMENT

Children of different ages and development skills have different needs. The age groups should each be provided with play areas having equipment appropriate to them in regard to design and scale. Specifically, the following items should not be used for pre-school age children:

• Chain or cable walks
• Free Standing Arch Climbers
• Swinging Gates
• Track rides
• Vertical Sliding Poles
• Fulcrum Seesaws
• Log Rolls
• Long Spiral Slides
• Overhead Rings
• Parallel Bars
• Free Standing Climbing Apparatus with Flexible components

 

DURABILITY

Whenever equipment must be acquired:

• Consider only equipment that is constructed of materials having a high record of durability.
• Verify that metal equipment is painted or treated to prevent rust or corrosion.
• Verify that the equipment has had no lead paint applied.
• On new equipment, require manufacturer’s certification that any applied preservatives, treatments, or coatings do not present a health hazard to the users.

 

EQUIPMENT & HARDWARE

• All connecting and securing hardware ("S" hooks, "U" bolts, chains, nails, screws, bolts, etc.) should be removable only with the use of tools. Lock-washers, Loc-tite™, or similar securing protection should be used, and all fasteners should be checked and tightened on a regular schedule. Gaps in "S" hooks or similar connectors should be less than thickness of a dime.
• Metal slides should be avoided unless they can be located so the slide does not receive direct sun, as the heated metal may burn the children’s skin when they touch it.