Playground safety update.

Since 1981, when the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued the first federal guidelines for public playground safety, providers of play opportunities to children have been involved in the development of a play ground safety movement. Those first guidelines, the Handbook for Public Playground Safety, were issued in two volumes, one for the lay public and the other for designers, manufacturers and owner/operators. The second volume (Volume II) contained technical information and testing procedures and the complete set established the foundations of a burgeoning movement to reduce the number and severity of injuries on the playground.

Did this thrust work? Looking at raw numbers, our first inclination might be to scoff at the effectiveness of the campaign. After all, in 1975 the estimated number of playground injuries serious enough to be treated at hospital emergency rooms was approximately 190,000; in 1994, the number was over 266,000. The paradox is that although numbers for emergency room visits have increased, there is a substantial decrease in the percentage of injuries.

Figures for both population and usage of parks and recreation playgrounds have increased this century. Population growth has averaged about 10% every 10 years, but the population movement has impacted on the development of parks, schools and playgrounds. The earliest constructed playgrounds remain in place--old and obsolete--while newly developed areas gain new schools and parks. And, while states like California, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada are seeing anywhere from 25% to 50% population increases, only a few less populated areas- Wyoming, North Dakota and West Virginia--have experienced population decreases. Even newly developed areas that focus on the retirees are seeing park development that includes play areas for grandchildren.

The playground safety movement has grown also; and it has blossomed in both intensity and interest The CPSC Handbook has undergone two revisions and will shortly undergo a third. The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) has developed a certification program for playground safety inspectors. And the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has produced a national voluntary standard for public use playground equipment safely, F1487. The standard is meant to identify safety hazards related to falling from platforms and to assist in correcting them.

The CPSC began identifying playground hazards by gathering information on the types of injuries reported to hospital emergency rooms. The injury statistics were compiled through National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), a system that provides annual reports on injuries in various categories, for different age groups. The NEISS data for 1994 showed that only injuries related to basketball, football and bicycles exceeded playgrounds. However, in the toddler to four-year-old age group, playground accidents are the major cause of injury; in the five to 14-year-old age bracket only bicycle and football injuries exceeded playground injuries.

Examination of actual causes of injury showed that falls from equipment to the surface constitute nearly 60% of the recorded injuries; falls onto other equipment account for 17% of the total. Of those equipment-related falls, five percent occur when impacting stationary equipment; and 13% occur because of impact with moving equipment (swings, whirls, rockers). The other seven percent have unknown causes. Thirty-three percent of children injured on playgrounds are under the age of five, and 40% are between the ages of five and nine.

Injury statistics show that most at risk on the playground today is the pre-school population. A primary reason is that most public playground equipment was designed for children between the ages of five and 12, making it inappropriate for children under five. It was not until the 1991 revision of the CPSC Handbook that the safety of two to five-year olds came to light. It was at this point that play hazards for that age were identified.

Risk vs Hazard

Play, for very young children, is a learning and growing experience. Children begin, at birth, to develop large and small muscles, and to show physical, mental and emotional growth. They do this through play--cognitive, physical and social--and play provides the medium through which growth is attained. The equipment on which this play takes place should provide the means to encourage this growth. We want to provide growth and learning opportunities for youngsters through challenge and the opportunity for accomplishment; we want children to gain feelings of self worth, to satisfy curiosity, to have opportunities to use imagination, and to promote creativity. All of these elements involve some "risk." Risk taking allows for judgment on the part of the user. "Can I master this challenge?" "Can I climb this, or swing out, or balance on this balance beam?" The answers all involve decision making on the part of the child who, seeing the challenge, determines whether he is capable of facing it.

A hazard--as differentiated from a risk--cannot be seen and, therefore, cannot be judged. Children know nothing about the dangers of head or body entrapment when they go head-first through two rungs; nor will they recognize an open S-Hook on a swing chain which can cause the seat to separate in use. It is, therefore, the hazard that must be eliminated the playground. The enjoyment and accomplishment of risk on the equipment should remain as an element of positive play and growth.

Hazards

There are numerous playground hazards that can cause critical injury if not eliminated. First and foremost is inadequate or improper surfacing under play equipment. The CPSC has reported that accidents due to poor surfacing were the prime cause of serious injuries on the playground. Regardless of the play area's size (daycare play areas can be especially minimal in size), the right surface will reduce the number and severity of injuries. Loose bulk surfaces, such as the engineered wood fibers, in proper depth, can provide a soft impact-attenuating environment for children who fall. Unitary surfaces, such as rubber matting and poured rubber surfaces, can do the same, but are far more costly install. (Conversely, somewhat more maintenance is required for loose bulk surfaces.) Space must be provided around equipment for a "fall" or "use zone." The fall zone allows room for children to fall from equipment onto the soft surface. The surface depth has a direct correlation to the height from which the child may fall; the higher the fall height, the deeper the surface should be to absorb the shock from the fall.

Entrapment and entanglement are also critical concerns for safety. There have been instances of children who were strangled when their parka strings caught on protrusions or in gaps at slide entrances. This is because the child, once started down the slide, cannot stop as the string gets tight. Both CPSC and ASTM require that there be no protrusions or gaps between the slide entrance and the platform.

To prevent entrapments, spacing between rungs, for young children, should be less than three and one-half inches apart. There should be no protrusions that can lacerate, no pinch or crush points on the equipment, no open S-Hooks on swings. Swings may not be attached to play structures, but must be installed away from other equipment, so that other children on the playground will not be likely to get in the path of swinging children.

Developing Standards

In 1988, ASTM touched off the playground safety movement when it began to develop a standard for public use playground equipment that would reduce the number and severity of injuries. ASTM, along with the CPSC, developed F148793, Safety Performance Specification for Playground Equipment for Public Use, which was published in December, 1993. The CPSC 1991 Handbook provides the simpler, less technical information, while the ASTM standard provides the technical and specifications testing procedures critical to the production of play equipment. While, these two publications address the same areas of safety concern, there are some differences. CPSC goes into great detail on loose bulk surfacing and the critical fall height measurements for depth of surfacing; ASTM does not address depth of surfacing, since its mission was to focus on playground equipment only. The CPSC Handbook does not address accessibility for those with disabilities, while the ASTM Standard has an entire section devoted to the requirements for safe accessibility.

It should be noted that both guidelines and standards are living, breathing documents that have undergone--and will continue to undergo--revisions. For example, in 1994, the CPSC revised its Handbook to match the ASTM requirement that rotating swings be prohibited from attachment to play structures. In 1995, the ASTM Standard revision incorporated sections on log rolls and track rides, neither one of which had been previously included. Currently, both CPSC and ASTM are considering additional revisions for 1997 publication.

Standards must change as environments and circumstances change. Historically, we have seen drastic upheavals in playground design and use. While, originally, we thought of public playgrounds as serving children between the ages of five and 12, we now know that we see many more two- to five-year olds on the playground than we see 11- and 12-year olds. And, while we need to protect the older child, we also must provide the opportunity for safe play for the preschooler. In the 1940s, the "safety surface" of choice was asphalt, since it was easy to maintain and considered safer than concrete.

Today, we require impact-attenuating surfaces that will reduce or eliminate injury in falls. We have traveled a long road from the metal climbers and slides, through the era of wooden equipment, to today's play systems of bright colors, diverse materials, and focus on safe play. And, once the compliance regulations for accessibility in play environments has been determined by the US Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, we will see still further changes.

Education and Certification

Perhaps the most important impact of the playground safety movement has been the development of the National Playground Safety Institute (NPSI), through NRPA, whose mission has been to educate all those associated with and interested in playground safety. NPSI, started in 1991 with a two-day institute and has grown into a national training program, training and certifying Playground Safety Inspectors across the country. To date, there are 4500 NPSI Certified Playground Safety Inspectors in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Middle East, as well as the US. Certification requires taking the Institute course and a formal exam.

The playground equipment manufacturers (IPEMA) has also developed a third-party voluntary certification program for their equipment, with certification based upon the ASTM F1487 Standard. As this program progresses, the cooperative efforts of ASTM and the manufacturers grows stronger. The IPEMA third-party testing serves to validate or point out the need for revision in the ASTM Standard.. There is a close, cooperative effort between CPSC and ASTM to develop a coordinated Handbook and ASTM Standard wherever it is possible to do so.

Why certification? Certification establishes an approved and standardized body of knowledge in playground safety, design, installation, and maintenance. The application of this knowledge has been tested and the products provided have met the criteria of the third-party certifier.

There is still much to be researched in children's play. Play patterns are changing, and designs focus more on socialization and integration, rather than on challenging physical skills. We still do not know whether children will play differently on the school playground than the public park. New equipment designs and materials proliferate, and the provision of play environments for all children--including those who are physically challenged--will probably cause the most ]important revolution in equipment design since the 1960s.

We have already experienced the massive change in acceptable playground surfacing. Add that to the equipment changes, the ASTM, and the CPSC impacts, and we will see brand new play environments. We, however, must make our playgrounds as safe as possible, while we make them enjoyable.