Playground Safety

Answer:

Playgrounds are full of children having fun and parents nervous about their safety--with good reason. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), more than 200,000 children go to emergency rooms in the U.S. each year with playground-related injuries. Although most of these injuries occur on public playgrounds at schools, childcare centers, and public parks, approximately 25 percent of these injuries occur on backyard playgrounds.

Fortunately, playground-related injuries are preventable. Here are some tips that can help you keep your child safe:

• Check playground surfaces. Almost 70 percent of playground injuries are caused by falls; so protective surfacing such as mulch, gravel, sand, or synthetic materials is vital to safety.
• Check swings and other playground equipment for potential hazards. For instance, swings should be anchored and spaced properly, but should not have "S" hooks that could cause strangulation if clothing became entangled. Platforms on slides and other equipment should have guardrails.
• Make sure children play on age-appropriate equipment. Equipment that's safe for children ages 5 and older isn't always safe for younger children.
• Supervise your children on the playground--statistics show that supervised children have fewer accidents. In addition, make sure that they wear clothing that won't become trapped on or in equipment (e.g., no drawstrings or straps).
• Report any safety hazards you see to the playground owner.

More safety tips and information can be found at the CPSC website, www.cpsc.gov. In addition, before your children head out to play, find out how safe your state's playgrounds are by checking out a two-year study published in April 2000 by the National Program for Playground Safety. It's available at www.uni.edu/playground/.