The National Playground Safety Institute certified playground safety inspectors: who are they and where did they come from?

A Certified Playground Safety Inspector is a person who has successfully completed the training course that is offered through the National Playground Safety Institute (NPSI). The institute is one of the educational programs and Park Association. In order to receive certification, a candidate must register to attend one of the safety institutes, study the course materials in preparation to attend the institute, attend the safety institute and, at the conclusion of the 10-hour course, take an exam. Upon passing the exam, the candidate is awarded his or her inspector certification, which is valid for three years. To renew certification, an inspector must register with the institute, review the updated course materials, and pass another certification exam. It is not necessary to repeat the course.

In 1997, the safety institute was offered in every region of the United States. More than 30 institutes are currently scheduled for this year. The demand for the institute is growing as the concern about the condition of America's playgrounds increases. The institute is reaching a broad range of the population, appealing to school representatives, daycare providers, park and recreation professionals, insurance companies, landscape architects, health departments, the military, architects and planners, risk-management groups, playground sales representatives, and concerned citizens. In an effort to continue to provide the best and most current education, NPSI is constantly updating its curriculum to keep pace with the revisions to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) Handbook for Public Playground Safety and the American Society for Testing Materials' (ASTM) standards. With these revisions come many questions. The following is a sample of some of the questions that are commonly asked and answered during the safety institute.

Do I have make my existing playground equipment comply with the current recommendations, as my equipment was purchased over the 10-20 years?

The current CPSC handbook and the ASTM standards are voluntary standards, and you are not bound by law to make changes unless your state has enacted legislation that would require compliance with either of those recommendations. The quidelines and standards are recognized as the industry standard for care and have been recognized as such in court. Therefore, it would be prudent to make attempts to bring your playground equipment into compliance in an effort to provide the safest play environment for the public.

According to the ASTM published in 1995, I must have 12 feet between two freestanding play structures. I only have 10 feet between these structures right now. Do I have to move one?

No. The most recent revision of the CPSC guideline allows an overlap of use zones between two stationary components that are higher than 30 inches so that you may have a minimum of nine feet between the two structures. If the structures are less than 30 inches high you may have an overlap of use zones with an minimum of six feet between the two components.

Our agency gets a lot of free wood chips from the utility company. May I spread this material under play equipment?

It is not good idea. First of all, it probably would not create an accessible scenario for those with disabilities, as the chips are of a random length and width. Second, you have no idea what type of wood has gone into the chipper. There could be thorns and other items in the mulch that would not be safe. Generally, this type of product is not passed through any type of screen, and you may get long sticks and branches that could prove very hazardous.

Many of the lots on which our playgrounds are built only have enough space to accommodate one playground. I know that we are supposed to have one for the tots and one for the older kids, but space just simply won't allow that. What do we do?

You are correct that both the CPSC and the ASTM recommended as separation of play areas. Remember that this is only a recommendation, but a good one. Children grow and develop at different rates, and what is challenging for a 10-year-old might present a great hazard for a 2-year-old. Trying to design one play ares that is safe for a 2-year-old and challenging for a 10-year-old presents quite a problem. The younger child is at the greatest risk of injury in a one-playground environment. Care should be taken to select play elements and components that would not present a hazard for the younger age group. Use the equipment recommendations for the younger age group when designing the area. Do not use items such as sliding poles, track rides, and horizontal ladders on composite structure that the younger children could access. Consider the type of climbers that are attached to the structure and remember that the younger children are top heavy and somewhat off balances. Therefore, it is important to provide adequate protection such as handholds, guardrails, and barriers. Make sure that the design of the structure allows for easy access with plenty of room for young child to maneuver. Provide a variety of activities in graduated levels of challenge so that the younger users can gain confidence on the easier apparatus. Make sure that the surfacing material is appropriate for the critical fall height of the equipment.

A Certified Playground Safety Inspector recently audited our playgrounds and said that our cargo nets did not meet the guidelines because the bar that holds the net was not anchored below ground level. The bars are anchored below ground level in concrete footers. What is he talking about?

The section of the ASTM standard that the inspector is referring to is section 7.2.2.2 Both the CPSC and the ASTM recommended that flexible climbing devices be anchored below ground level. This means that any bar, J-bolt, or other type of fastener must be located below the level of the playing surface so that the anchoring device does not present a trip hazard or a fall hazard if a child should fall back onto the bottom of the flexible climber.

I have a spring to p with a rubber surfacing material under it, and sometimes, when a very heavy child is on the toy, it will touch the surfacing material, Is this considered a pinch,c rush, and shear point?

No. This section of the standard only relates to the playground equipment. Fulcrum-type seesaws require the use of a buried tire or some other type of shock-absorbing material to cushion the shock of striking the surfacing material. This is to offer protection from broken toes, turned ankles, and back injuries, not to eliminate a pinch, crush, or shear point.

I recently installed a new playground, and rather than cutting all the bolt ends down, my crew put acorn nuts on the end of the bolts. We thought that this was safer than having an exposed bolt end. The manufacturer's sales rep is telling me that I have to take off the acorn nuts and grind down the bolt ends. Why aren't the acorn nuts safer?

Without seeing how much of the bolt end is exposed or the size of the acorn nut it is hard to judge. Generally, bolt ends should not extend through the face of a nut more than two threads, because the threads may be considered an entanglement and a sharp-edge hazard. That is why the manufacturer asks that the bolt ends be cut down to no more than two exposed threads. When you placed the acorn nut on the end of the bolt you may have inadvertently created an entanglement hazard or a protrusion hazard. It is always wise to follow the manufacturer's instructions to ensure the safety of the product and the user.

Are swing hangers subject to the pinch, crush, and shear requirements?

Yes. Keep in mind that the maximum degree of motion of the swing is 90 degrees.

When remodeling a building, the ADA talks about the cost of making the building accessible in terms of a percent of cost that is reasonable. Is there a "reasonable clause" in the ASTM or CPSC recommendations?

There is no such exemption in either the ASTM or the CPSC because both documents are voluntary. During the safety institute, the instructors talk about prioritizing problems according to their potential to cause an injury and their severity. For example, a bolt end that might cut or scratch would be given a lower priority for repair than a piece of hardware that is in a position to create a clothing entanglement. The institute acknowledges that it may not be possible to fix every hazard immediately. By prioritizing the hazards that are discovered during a playground audit or inspection, one can establish a plan to correct the hazards. Care must be taken to immediately remove hazards or correct situations that might be considered life threatening.

What is the maximum recommended height for a slide?

There is no maximum recommendation in either ASTM or CPSC. The height of a slide should be directly related to the critical fall height for the surfacing material that is to be used under the slide.

Is a hood on a slide a requirement or will any device that forces the child to sit down work?

The standards and guidelines are not specific as to the design of the component. A hood is one method used to channel the user into a seated position. A sit-down bar is also commonly used.

Usually the degradation of playground equipment can be seen readily through visual inspections. How do we determine (at the local level) the degradation of surfacing products such as synthetic mats or wood products? How do we know if they are still offering an acceptable level of protection?

To date there is no approved method for testing surfacing materials on site. A portable drop test head form has been developed and is in the process of being approved by ASTM as an addition to the ASTM F1292 testing procedures. Some laboratories have portable test rigs that they will bring to your site for a fee. Unfortunately, there is no test that you can perform yourself to determine the existing resiliency.

Your best bet on wood fiber, sand, pea stone, or other loose bulk material is to measure the existing depth. Determine the critical fall height for the equipment above the surfacing.

When this has been done, check the equipment height and depth of surfacing material against the CPSC's recommendations for critical height (found in Table 1, p.5 of the most recent revision of the Handbook Public Playground Safety). This will give you a good indication of whether or not there is enough material in place to offer the appropriate protection. All loose-fill materials must not be allowed to become hard and compacted, so it is necessary to turn the materials from time to time. Proper drainage is also a very important factor in maintaining the resiliency of your surfacing material.

Rubber or synthetic mats and poured-in-place surfaces are, at this point, very difficult to test in the field. You should reference your purchasing information to determine what was purchased for a specific site and also what the critical height for the thickness of the material was supposed to be at the time of installation. If you are concerned that a poured-in-place material is not thick enough, you could remove a plug of the material in several spots to determine the overall thickness of the surface material.

Make sure that you replace the material where the plugs were removed. We do not really know what resiliency, if any, is lost over time with a unitary material.