Playground merry go round injuries: Where’s the Merry-Go-Round!? Why Modern Playgrounds Don’t Look Like They Used To

Опубликовано: March 18, 2022 в 10:12 am

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Категории: Miscellaneous

Where’s the Merry-Go-Round!? Why Modern Playgrounds Don’t Look Like They Used To

Photo by Jessica Byrum / Stocksy United

You’ve probably noticed that playgrounds today don’t look a lot like the playgrounds from your childhood. There’s a reason for that: Today, we have a deeper understanding of the way kids of different abilities, sizes, and stages of development move; we also know a lot more about how to keep kids safe on playgrounds. According to the National Program for Playground Safety at the University of Northern Iowa, more than 200,000 people are sent to the emergency room with playground injuries each year.

Luckily, new equipment designs and more stringent regulations are making playgrounds safer all the time. So while you may be nostalgic for that old metal merry-go-round with the chipping paint, new playgrounds are doing a much better job of keeping your kids out of the ER.

Here are a few ways today’s modern playgrounds are keeping more kids injury-free.

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1. Modern Playgrounds Provide Softer Landings

Once upon a time, concrete, grass, and asphalt surfaces were commonplace on playgrounds, but newer materials like rubber matting, sand, and bark chips can cut injury rates in half. Falls are the No. 1 cause of playground injuries, according to the Children’s Safety Network, so many playground regulations address the material under and around the play area in order to cushion tumbles and drops.

Photo by David Hume Kennerly

2. Modern Playgrounds Are Built for Every Age

Gone are the days of the one-size-fits-all approach to playground design. According to the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Public Playground Safety Handbook, newer playgrounds are designed to create distinct play areas for toddlers, young children ages two to five, and older kids ages five to 12 that are appropriate for their different physical, social, and emotional stages of development.

Equipment for younger children, for example, encourages crawling, standing, exploration, and sensory discovery—without advanced features like balance walks, free-standing climbing walls, overhead rings, tall slides, and sliding poles.

3. Modern Playgrounds Are Made Better

What was your childhood playground made of? Chances are the answer is metal, lead-painted fixtures, and splinter-prone wood that was treated with arsenic. New guidelines for modern playgrounds advise using plastic, coated metal to avoid burns on hot days in addition to rot- and splinter-resistant wood. That’s good!

4. Modern Playgrounds Encourage Mindfulness

Yes, much has been written about the dawning of the age of helicopter parents, but active supervision is a major factor in preventing injuries. That’s why modern playgrounds make supervision easy with well-designed lines of sight that ensure all areas of the playground are visible from park benches and tables. Playgrounds have also started using clear plastic to create tubes or other crawl spaces so children are never out of sight.

5. Modern Playgrounds Nix Dangerous Equipment

According to the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, some formerly popular kinds of playground equipment just aren’t safe for public playgrounds because they are major contributors to injuries. That’s why you won’t see old-school merry-go-rounds, trampolines, seesaws without springs, or multiple-seat swings on new playgrounds.

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6. Some Modern Playgrounds Are Made for All

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 created new regulations for playground accessibility, many new playgrounds are still not fully accessible to children and parents with disabilities. In Portland, Oregon, an organization called Harper’s Playground has adapted local playgrounds to be more easily accessible for those with disabilities.

Harper’s Playground creates open, even surfaces and spaces for play that all children can enjoy and access regardless of their mobility, including gentle inclines that lead to slides (rather than stairs or ladders), larger and wider swings, and more spacious and gently sloping climbing walls. Check out pictures of Harper’s Playground here.

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7. Bring Playground Safety to Your School

To help parents, communities, activists, and schools create safer playgrounds, the National Program for Playground Safety has designed a thorough report card to make sure local playgrounds are safe in several categories: supervision, age-appropriate design, fall protection, and equipment maintenance. If you find a way to improve your local playgrounds, contact your local parks department or school district to help make your community safer for everyone!

Have a play structure at your house? The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission offers a handbook and checklist for residential play areas to keep backyard fun as safe as public areas.

Death-Defying Merry-Go-Rounds and Knee-Scraping Climbing Bars Are Playgroun

Playground equipment manufacturers routinely made such claims in catalogs touting the social, physical, and moral benefits of their products. “Better the playground and trained leaders than reformatories and uniformed guards,” proclaims a 1926 advertisement for a Studebaker Park Combination playland from The Ashland Mfg. Co. in Ashland, Ohio. “Good-bye Juvenile Court,” reads another.

The earliest American playgrounds were more like large sand gardens, similar to those popular in Germany in the late 1800s. Swings, slides, and climbing bars were added. Instructors often led children in organized play.

Playgrounds at schoolyards and city parks helped socialize America’s new immigrant population and gave generations common community landmarks in the early days of the twentieth century. The Playground Association of America was formed in 1906.

Products and designs changed dramatically over the years. Frontier-land motifs with Conestoga wagons and teepees gave way to space travel, cartoon characters, and fairylands.

Traveling sales representatives sold steel slides, miracle lifetime whirls, jingle bars, and swings to schools and cities. Horizontal ladders would help the children stay physically fit. Rocket slides encouraged big dreams as America’s space program captivated the citizenry.

“The rocket is not leaving,” says Deborah Baker, curator of collections at the Edmond Historical Society & Museum, where the exhibit “Once Upon a Playground” opened early this year.

A rocket slide, installed in the 1960s, anchors Stephenson Park, where Edmond’s Depression-era Armory building houses the museum and traveling exhibit. While the park is scheduled for a makeover, the rocket slide will stay.

“People don’t know us as the historical society or Stephenson Park,” she says. “They know us as ‘Rocket Park.’”

The ExhibitsUSA traveling exhibit features playground photographs by Brenda Biondo and historic photos selected by Carol Johnson. It is a collaboration with the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and is showing in Edmond with support from Oklahoma Humanities.

Across the country vintage playground equipment has been scraped, scrapped, and replaced, mostly in the interest of safety. Early apparatus makers used steel and wood to give children repeated thrills and escape the austerity of the times.

After television became more prevalent in American homes, cartoon characters found favor as coil-spring riders. Zoo animals became swing seats, and pretend wagons bore the shape of Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage.

Sales catalogs in the exhibit feature merry-go-rounds in five sizes from 10 feet to 16 feet in diameter. Karymor Playground Apparatus of Pueblo, Colorado, sold thousands of them. Well-preserved ones are hot items at flea markets. The company’s 1931 offerings included jingle rings, swings, steel slides, teeter-totters, and horizontal bars.

Miracle Recreation Equipment Company in Grinnell, Iowa, sold 353 different pieces of playground equipment. In 1975, their product line included pieces such as tornado slides, Astro City, a spaceship, jet interceptor and the satellite, and an all-pipe climbing toy. The centerpiece was the Mark IV, a multi-station apparatus that “handles a whole neighborhood of children.”

The colors of the playground—red, pink, orange, green, yellow and blue—were not chosen at random. A three-year study by a West German psychologist found a child’s mental and emotional development were improved by colors they prefer, according to the company’s literature.

Despite many a child’s memory of skinned knees, bleeding chins, and hard landings from flying off a self-propelled merry-go-round, safety warnings were missing on many early catalogs. By 1975, however, products stressed consumer safety. One urged buyers to pave the surface under the “Miracle Lifetime Whirl,” to prevent curious children from burrowing underneath the whirler platform.

Photographer Biondo’s work, featured in her book, Once Upon a Playground—A Celebration of Classic American Playgrounds, 1920–1975, matches her own photographs of vintage equipment with catalogs. Her cocurator, Carol Johnson, is a retired curator of photography at the Library of Congress.

The book was published in 2014 by University Press of New England. Biondo began researching and photographing the apparatus after noticing the type of playground equipment she loved as a youngster was missing from neighborhood parks.

“I was at a playground and my one-year-old daughter was playing in the sand box, and I noticed all the new, plastic equipment and I got to thinking about the things I played on and started wondering if any of that still existed,” Biondo says. “I started driving around the local parks and realized that it was disappearing from the landscape very quickly.”

That interest in documenting that era of playground equipment led to seven years of travel and photography. Weekend drives, vacations, and trips to surrounding states became part of the hunt. Every town and city along her route got a quick look.

She found vintage pieces remaining mostly in older, less affluent communities that couldn’t afford to or had no interest in replacing them. If a town had fewer youngsters, that meant there was less demand to upgrade.

Equipment design changed dramatically in the 1970s as federal guidelines offered suggestions on height, spacing, and safety. Formation of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1972 and early computer tracking of playground accidents changed the landscape as architects and equipment designers built more safety into their products. An early CPSC publication established guidelines for public playgrounds. It wasn’t required, but manufacturers feared liability issues if they didn’t meet the guidelines.

The designers’ emphasis on safety may have come at the expense of creativity. Kids get bored easily with less challenging playground toys, points out Biondo.

“And there has been some research that shows the number of playground injuries hasn’t changed that much over the years,” Biondo says. “Kids are pretty good about assessing danger.”

Playground Safety (for Parents) – Nemours KidsHealth

Why Is Playground Safety Important?

Playgrounds and outdoor play equipment offer kids fresh air, friends, fun, and exercise. But it’s important to make sure that faulty equipment, improper surfaces, and unsafe behavior don’t ruin the fun.

Each year, more than 200,000 kids are treated in hospital ERs for playground-related injuries. Many of these accidents can be prevented with careful supervision.

You can make the playground entertaining and safe for your kids by checking equipment for possible hazards and following some simple safety guidelines.

And teaching kids how to play safely is important: If they know the rules of the playground, they’re less likely to get hurt.

Adult Supervision Is Key

Adults can help prevent injuries by making sure kids properly use playground equipment. If an injury does happen, an adult can help the child and give any needed first aid right away.

Kids should always have adult supervision on the playground. Keep your eyes on young kids (and sometimes older ones) because they can’t always be sure of distance and may not expect dangerous situations. Older kids like to test their limits on the playground, so it’s important for an adult to keep them in check.

Before you visit a playground, check to make sure that play areas are designed to allow an adult to clearly see kids while they’re playing on all the equipment.

Teaching Kids About Playground Safety

Another key part of playground safety: Kids must know how to be safe and act responsibly at the playground.

Kids should know to:

  • Never push or roughhouse while on jungle gyms, slides, seesaws, swings, and other equipment.
  • Use equipment properly — slide feet-first, don’t climb outside guardrails, no standing on swings, etc.
  • Always check to make sure no other kids are in the way if they’re going to jump off equipment or slide, and land on both feet with their knees slightly bent.
  • Leave bikes, backpacks, and bags away from the equipment and the play area so that no one trips over them.
  • Always wear a helmet while bike riding, but take it off while on playground equipment.
  • Never use playground equipment that’s wet because moisture makes the surfaces slippery.
  • Check playground equipment in the summertime. It can become uncomfortably or even dangerously hot, especially metal slides, handrails, and steps. So use good judgment — if the equipment feels hot to the touch, it’s probably not safe or fun to play on. Contact burns can happen within seconds.
  • Wear clothes without drawstrings or cords. Drawstrings, purses, and necklaces could get caught on equipment and accidentally strangle a child.
  • Wear sunscreen when playing outside even on cloudy days to protect against sunburn.

Safe Equipment Guidelines

Swings, slides, and climbing equipment have different safety concerns. And some kinds of equipment are not safe for playgrounds, no matter how careful kids are.

Swing Safety

Swings are the most common source of childhood injuries from moving equipment on a playground. But a few simple precautions can help keep kids safely swinging:

  • Swings should be made of soft material such as rubber or plastic, not wood or metal.
  • Kids should always sit in the swing, not stand or kneel. They should hold on tightly with both hands while swinging, and when finished swinging, stop the swing completely before getting off.
  • Children should stay a safe distance from other kids on swings, being careful not to run or walk in front of or in back of moving swings.
  • Kids should never ride with more than one child to a swing. Swings are designed to safely hold only one person.
Seesaw Safety

Using a seesaw requires cooperation between kids. They’re generally not recommended for preschoolers unless the seesaw has a spring-centering device to prevent sudden contact with the ground. Regardless of design, both seesaws and merry-go-rounds should be approached with caution.

Other safety tips to keep in mind:

  • Seesaw seats are like swings: one child per seat. A child who is too light to seesaw with a partner should find a different partner — not add another child to his or her side of the seesaw.
  • Kids should always sit facing one another, not turned around.
  • Teach kids to hold on tightly with both hands while on a seesaw, not to touch the ground or push off with their hands, and to keep feet to the sides, out from underneath the seesaw.
  • Kids should stand back from a seesaw when it’s in use. They should never stand beneath a raised seesaw, stand and rock in the middle, or try to climb onto it while it’s in motion.
Slide Safety

Slides are safe if kids are careful when using them. Guidelines to keep in mind:

  • Children should take one step at a time and hold onto the handrail when climbing the ladder to the top of the slide. They should not climb up the sliding board itself to get to the top.
  • Kids should always slide down feet first and sitting up, never head first or on their back or stomach.
  • Only one child should be on the slide platform at a time, and kids shouldn’t slide down in groups.
  • Kids should always check that the bottom of the slide is clear before sliding down. When they reach the bottom, they should get off and move away from the end of the slide so it’s clear for other kids to slide down.
Climbing Equipment Safety

Climbing equipment comes in many shapes and sizes — including rock climbing walls, arches, and vertical and horizontal ladders. It’s usually more challenging for kids than other kinds of playground equipment.

Be sure your kids are aware of a safe way down in case they can’t complete the climb. The highest rate of injuries on public playgrounds are seen with climbing equipment. This is dangerous when not designed or used properly. Adult supervision is especially important for younger kids.

Climbing equipment can be used safely if kids are taught to use both hands and to stay well behind the person in front of them and beware of swinging feet. When they drop from the bars, kids should be able to jump down without hitting the equipment on the way down. Remind kids to have their knees bent and land on both feet.

Reviewed by: Kate M. Cronan, MD

Date reviewed: September 2019

Classic Playground Equipment You Won’t Find These Days

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LifestyleView Slideshow

Saundra Latham

February 15, 2022

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Attack of the Fun Police

Trips to the park are still a treasured part of childhood — after all, they’re free, unlike the amusement park or the arcade — but today’s playgrounds have changed a lot since you were a kid. Safety concerns have made a lot of old favorites, from merry-go-rounds to monkey bars, an increasingly rare sight. Find out which playground staples from your childhood are slowly becoming extinct.

Related: 25 Amusement Parks Then and Now

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Seesaws

Getting smacked in the head by a seesaw used to be a childhood rite of passage, but no longer. There used to be classic wooden seesaws at more than 600 New York City playgrounds, but there was just one left five years ago, according to city park officials. The same thing has happened all over the country because of updated federal guidelines requiring significant design changes and specifying that seesaws are not as safe for smaller kids as other equipment.

Related: Big Names That Changed With the Times to Avoid Being Canceled

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Merry-Go-Rounds

You might have fond memories of spinning so much on the merry-go-round that you felt a little sick, but chances are your kids or grandkids won’t be able to say the same. While there are a few merry-go-rounds still to be found on older playgrounds, most have been ripped out in favor of safer, less rust-prone alternatives. Lawsuits in New Jersey and elsewhere have made officials too skittish to keep this classic piece of equipment.

Related: Most Unbelievable Lawsuits Filed Against Big Companies

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Jungle Gyms

Despite some experts’ insistence that jungle gyms can be a great way for kids to take risks and test their limits, the tall metal contraptions of your childhood have been ripped from most playgrounds. Many factors are at work: Parents have pushed for changes, federal and manufacturer safety guidelines have changed, and the specter of lawsuits stemming from injuries is greater than ever.

Related: The Most Dangerous Toys of All Time

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The Giant’s Stride by Mike Prince (CC BY)

Giant Strides

This truly old-school playground delight, deemed “the most notorious piece of playground equipment in history,” dates to the turn of the last century. Kids would fling themselves around a central pole by holding onto dear life to dangling trapeze-like bars, chains, or ropes. Sound unsafe? Yep. And the Consumer Product Safety Commission expressly recommends against them for modern playgrounds, making any that remain a rare sight, indeed.


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Elena Kalashnik/istockphoto

Metal Slides

Just about any kid used to know that a trip down a metal slide on a hot summer day could be a recipe for a painful burn. Today, most of those slides have been deep-sixed in favor of plastic slides, or slides that are at least covered with a special kind of heat-reducing paint. Kids should still be careful, though. As the CPSC notes, plastic can still get hot enough to cause burns.

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IMG_7986 Vintage Playground Ride: Witch’s Hat by carlfbagge (CC BY-SA)

Witch’s Hat

A witch’s hat wasn’t as common as a merry-go-round, but it was an incredibly fun way to make yourself dizzy, with a wooden bench or metal platform that you had to hop onto as it spun around a central pole. Sadly, it was also one of the most dangerous pieces of playground equipment — in Britain, there were once five Witch’s Hat deaths in one year, according to The Financial Times. Suffice it to say that new playgrounds forgo this one.

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Sandboxes

Many of us spent the summer tracking in shoes full of sand after an afternoon at the park, but even innocent sandboxes are getting the heave-ho. San Francisco has banned them, and officials elsewhere are following suit because they’re just too much work to keep clean, especially when neighborhood cats want to use them as a giant litterbox. One study even found that they harbored “2,000 times more bacteria, yeast, and mold per square inch than the door handles of public restrooms.” Ick.

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Concrete Surfaces

If you didn’t break a bone from a fall at the playground, chances are you knew a kid who did. After all, you were probably plummeting from the jungle gym onto rock-hard concrete or blacktop, or if you were lucky, dirt or grass. Today’s kids have a much softer place to land. Poured rubber, turf, rubber mats or tiles, wood chips, and shredded rubber are required under equipment these days.

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Monkey Bars

Mastering the monkey bars used to be a major accomplishment for a kid — today, not so much. While monkey bars remain easier to find at your local playground than a lot of other things on this list, they’re also slowly disappearing. Turns out they’re a hotspot for injuries including bone fractures, according to Slate, and even traumatic brain injuries like concussions, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis of federal data.

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Rocket Slide by Nels Olsen (CC BY-SA)

Rocket Climbers

If you grew up during the Cold War, giant metal rockets with twisting steps and slides jutting out were a popular sight on the playground. They’re truly a relic of a different era, and they were meant to get kids excited about the space age. Today, the few that are left are mostly abandoned, rusting hulks that officials have ditched for the same reasons they’ve replaced other old metal equipment: Plastic is safer and easier to maintain.

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Ball Pits

If you were lucky enough to get a trip to an indoor playground at a fast-food restaurant or a place like Chuck E. Cheese — just one of many places kids love but parents hate — one of the highlights was doing cannonballs into the ball pit. Of course, everyone knew that ball pits were ground zero for germs (and maybe even feces, or an uneaten Happy Meal or two). As companies wised up to the health risks, ball pits started to disappear.

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Wooden Equipment

Remember those massive, maze-like wooden playgrounds with steps, bridges, and turrets galore? Fewer and fewer kids are getting to play king of the castle these days, as most wooden playground equipment is giving way to colorful plastic that won’t leave splinters in little hands or require as much upkeep.

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Dilapidated Animal Swings by Ulleskelf (CC BY-NC-ND)

Animal Swings

Colorful plastic animal swings used to be a whimsical playground staple, but you won’t find any new ones being installed today. That’s because the heavy swinging plastic contraptions, which could weigh as much as 80 pounds, have caused serious head injuries in more than 40 reported cases, causing the CPSC to crusade for their removal and replacement.

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Basketball Hoops

Even basketball hoops are fewer and farther between on playgrounds these days. ESPN blames a myriad of factors, including kids who’d rather be indoors, playing organized hoops instead of pickup games. And some schools say their basketball hoops were vandalized, or worse, attracted gangs and drugs.

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Real Tires

If there’s a tire swing at your local park, chances are the “tire” is made of molded plastic instead of rubber. And you’ll be hard pressed to find climbers or pyramids made from real tires anymore. That’s because real tires can be a breeding ground for mold and insects, and rubber mulch made from tires has even come under fire for potentially harboring toxic chemicals.

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BCI Burke Playground Equipment

Swinging Gates

Unassuming swinging gates were never the star of the playground, but they sure were fun as kids crowded on to spin and dangle. If you were lucky, there was a platform to stand on — if you weren’t, you just crammed your feet in between the bars and held on for dear life. Unfortunately, these have also ended up on the CPSC’s no-no list, probably because it’s no fun to be whacked in the head or chest with metal bars.

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Trampolines

More common at indoor playgrounds, trampolines used to be a reliable source of fun near that banished ball pit. Now you’ll rarely see them outside of a dedicated trampoline park or someone’s back yard because of staggeringly high child injury rates — the American Academy of Pediatrics even says kids should steer clear entirely. Unsurprisingly, the CPSC also says they’re not ideal for playgrounds.

The 12 Leading Causes of Injuries on Playgrounds


The National Playground Safety Institute (NSPI) has identified 12 of the leading causes of injuries on playgrounds, which they

call the “Dirty Dozen. ”


  1. Improper protective surfacing:


    Hard surfaces under and around playground equipment can cause injuries if children fall. Replace these surfaces with materials that are soft enough to cushion a fall, such as hardwood fiber/mulch, sand, or pea gravel. Maintain these surfaces at a depth of 12 inches, don’t allow them to become compacted, and make sure they are free of standing water and debris. You can also use unitary materials (synthetic or rubber tiles, shredded rubber, and mats) under play equipment. Consult a vendor certified in playground safety before installing these materials.




  2. Inadequate use zones:


    A use zone is the area under and around playground equipment where a child might fall. Make sure to cover use zones with protective surfacing material that extends a minimum of 6 feet in all directions from the edge of the equipment. Some equipment (slides between 6 and 8 feet high and swing sets) needs a larger use zone.



  3. Protrusion/entanglement hazards:


    A protrusion hazard is anything that could impale or cut a child who might fall against it. An entanglement hazard is anything that could catch an item of clothing or jewelry worn around a child’s neck. Children have been strangled when a drawstring from a hood or a necklace catches on an exposed bolt end or open “S” type hook on play equipment. Pay special attention to the area at the top of slides, where gaps and spaces could catch clothing. Anchor ropes securely at both ends so they cannot form a loop or noose.



  4. Entrapment in openings:


    Children often enter enclosed openings on play equipment feet first and try to slide through the opening. Even if the opening is large enough to allow the child’s body to pass through, it may entrap the child’s head. Generally, openings on play equipment should measure less than 3-1/2 inches or greater than 9 inches. Pay special attention to openings at the top of a slide, between platforms, and on climbers where the distance between rungs might be less than 9 inches.



  5. Insufficient equipment spacing:


    If there is not enough space between pieces of play equipment, children can fall off one structure and strike another. Each item of play equipment has a use zone around it, and for certain types of equipment, these use zones may overlap. Equipment less than 30 inches high can overlap use zones with 6 feet between each structure. Equipment higher than 30 inches must have 9 feet between each structure. The to-fro area of swings, exit area of slides, standing rocking equipment, and merry-go rounds cannot overlap use zones. Install swings and other pieces of moving equipment in an area away from other play equipment.



  6. Trip hazards:


    Exposed concrete footings, abrupt changes in surface elevations, containment borders, tree roots, tree stumps, and rocks are all common trip hazards that are often found in play environments.



  7. Lack of supervision:


    Increased supervision on the playground directly relates to increased safety and fewer injuries. Design your play area so that it is easy for caregivers to observe children at play. Position supervisors so they can immediately respond to emergencies. Make sure that elevated play equipment is supervised at all times.



  8. Age-inappropriate activities:


    Make sure that your play equipment is age-appropriate for the children who will use it. Areas for preschool age children (2-5) should be separate from areas for school age children (5-12).



  9. Lack of maintenance:


    A sloppily maintained playground is dangerous, and can invite vandalism. Make sure play equipment has no missing, broken, or worn-out components, and that all hardware and parts are secure. Maintain the surface material of your play equipment, whether wood, metal, or plastic. Inspect equipment frequently, and replace it as necessary.



  10. Pinch, crush, and sharp-edged hazards:


    Inspect play equipment to make sure that there are no sharp edges or points that could cut a child. Check moving components, such as suspension bridges, track rides, merry-go-rounds, seesaws, and some swings, to make sure that there are no moving parts or mechanisms that might crush a child’s fingers.


  11. Platforms with no guardrails:


    Make sure elevated surfaces (platforms, ramps, and bridge ways) have guardrails or barriers to prevent falls. Preschool age children are at greater risk from falls, so equipment intended for this age group should have guardrails on elevated surfaces higher than 20 inches and protective barriers on platforms higher than 30 inches. Equipment intended for school-age children should have guardrails on elevated surfaces higher than 30 inches and barriers on platforms above 48 inches.


  12. Equipment not recommended for public playgrounds:


    Because accidents have been associated with the following types of equipment, the Consumer Product Safety Commission discourages their use on public playgrounds:

    • Heavy swings such as animal figure swings and multiple occupancy/glider swings.

    • Free-swinging ropes that may fray or form a loop.

    • Swinging exercise rings and trapeze bars.


You can learn more about playground safety from the National Recreation and Park association at www.nrpa.org.



This document is intended for general information purposes only, and should not be construed as advice or opinions on any specific facts or circumstances. The content of this document is made available on an “as is” basis, without warranty of any kind. This document can’t be assumed to contain every acceptable safety and compliance procedures or that additional procedures might not be appropriate under the circumstances. Markel does not guarantee that this information is or can be relied on for compliance with any law or regulation, assurance against preventable losses, or freedom from legal liability. This publication is not intended to be legal, underwriting, or any other type of professional advice. Persons requiring advice should consult an independent adviser.  Markel does not guarantee any particular outcome and makes no commitment to update any information herein, or remove any items that are no longer accurate or complete. Furthermore, Markel does not assume any liability to any person or organization for loss or damage caused by or resulting from any reliance placed on that content.

*Markel Specialty is a business division of Markel Service, Incorporated, the underwriting  manager for the Markel affiliated insurance companies.
© 2022 Markel Service, Incorporated.  All rights reserved. 

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Playground Safety Guide – Preventing Playground Injuries – OrthoInfo

Playgrounds are exciting places for children to be outdoors and active, and to make friends. Despite these great benefits, playgrounds are also common places where kids get hurt. Each year, more than 220,000 children under the age of 14 are treated in hospital emergency rooms across the United States for injuries occurring on playgrounds.

There are several things parents and caregivers can do to help make the playground safer for children. This includes:

  • Providing strong supervision
  • Ensuring that equipment and ground surfaces are free of potential hazards
  • Steering kids to age-appropriate play areas.

Here are a few other tips on how to prevent playground injuries from occurring and to lessen the severity of injuries that do occur.

Although minor bumps, bruises, and cuts frequently occur on playgrounds, many playground injuries are more severe. The most common playground-related injuries that require a doctor’s care are:

  • Broken bones (fractures)
  • Sprains and strains
  • Internal organ injuries
  • Dislocations
  • Concussions 

Although it rarely happens, deaths have also been associated with playground equipment. In a recent 10-year timespan, 147 children (14 years or younger) died from playground-related injuries: 82 strangulations and 31 falls.

While most playground injuries occur on public playground swings and climbing equipment, 70% of deaths occurred on home playgrounds.

Falls

The most common playground-related cause of childhood emergency room visits is falling from the equipment to the ground. Children fall because they slip, lose their grip, or lose their balance while playing on monkey bars, swings, slides, merry-go-rounds, and see-saws.

Even something as simple as the drawstrings from a hooded sweatshirt can catch on a piece of playground equipment and lead to a fall. Often, children are hurt not only by the fall, but by being struck by the equipment as they fall.

Most playground injuries are caused by falls from monkey bars and other equipment.

In a natural effort to protect themselves, children will often fall on an outstretched hand and break the bones involving the elbow. This type of elbow fracture (supracondylar fracture of the humerus) is the most common injury that requires surgical treatment.

Slides

Many injuries also happen on slides. One study found a relationship between shinbone (tibia) fractures and young children going down a slide on the lap of an adult. In many of these cases, the child’s leg became stuck, but the adult and child could not stop moving down the slide. In other cases, the child’s leg became twisted during the ride down.

Other Causes

  • A smaller number of playground injuries occur on see-saws (also called teeter-totters).
  • To lesser degrees, injuries result from contact with sharp edges of equipment, impact with stationary equipment, and falling after being struck with some type of equipment other than what the child was playing on — for example, walking past a moving swing.
  • Playgrounds with poor maintenance present extra opportunities for injuries from trash, rusty play equipment or damaged fall surfaces.

Supervision

Close supervision by a responsible adult may be the most important factor in preventing or minimizing playground injuries. Age-appropriate equipment and carefully designed playground layouts, by themselves, won’t be enough to prevent all injuries that may occur. Adults must provide focused supervision. They must instruct children in the proper use of the equipment, and monitor and enforce playground rules.

Always steer children to age-appropriate playground equipment.

Parents, relatives, teachers, babysitters, or anyone who sends or brings children to the playground should periodically inspect the facility for hazards. Report any problems to the proper officials. Don’t let your children use that playground until the authorities have completed repairs.

Playground Design

Whether playground injuries are caused by falls or other types of contact, attention to three major factors can help to reduce the incidence of injury. These factors are:

  • Playground surface
  • Playground plan
  • Equipment installation and maintenance

Playground surface. The type of surface on the playground is the most important factor in the number and severity of injuries due to falls.

  • The number and severity of injuries can be reduced by using softer surfaces, such as wood mulch or chips, shredded tires, or sand.
  • Hard surfaces, such as asphalt and concrete, result in the most severe injuries and are unsuitable under any playground equipment.
  • Soil, packed dirt, grass, and turf are not recommended for surfacing either, because their ability to absorb shock can be affected greatly by weather conditions and wear.

Playground plan. A well-planned playground should offer activities to encourage the development of perception and physical skills, including running, walking, climbing, dodging, swinging, sliding, throwing, catching, pulling, and pushing.

General guidelines for a well-planned playground include:

  • Separate areas should be available for active play, such as swinging, and for quiet play, such as digging in sandboxes.
  • Spaces for preschoolers should be located away from areas where older, more active children play.
  • A “use zone” should be established around equipment, with adequate space for entering and exiting. Open fields should be positioned to enable children to run freely without colliding with other children or equipment.
  • Zones for popular activities should be separate to avoid overcrowding.
  • Pathways that link activity areas should provide for easy travel between areas, and unobstructed vision for a child’s height.
  • Sight lines in all playground areas should be clear to allow proper adult supervision.

Equipment installation and maintenance. Schools and cities should keep playgrounds in good condition by inspecting and maintaining the equipment throughout the year.

Heavy rainfall, snow, temperature extremes and high winds can damage playground equipment, as can heavy use. The most popular equipment might wear out quickly.

Manufacturers’ instructions for proper installation and spacing should be followed carefully, including recommendations for maintenance. Equipment should be inspected regularly to identify any loosening, rust or corrosion, or deterioration from use, rot, insects, or weathering.

  • Be sure you can clearly see your children on the playground. The kids should have clear, unobstructed views from their height. 
  • Avoid playgrounds that have concrete, asphalt, hard-packed soil, or grass. The surface should be made of wood chips, mulch, or shredded rubber for play equipment up to 7 feet high.
  • Make sure children are wearing appropriate shoes for safe running, climbing, and jumping. Check that the child’s shoelaces are tied or velcro straps are secured. 
  • Steer children to age-appropriate playground equipment.
  • Check to see that there is enough space for kids to easily get off the slide or merry-go-round. Don’t let kids crowd around the exit areas.
  • Try the handgrips to verify they are shaped and sized for easy grasp.
  • Swing seats should be made of plastic or rubber. Avoid metal or wood.
  • Avoid any equipment that has openings that could entrap a child’s head.
  • Remove tripping hazards such as exposed concrete footings, tree stumps, or rocks.

Parents and guardians, print and share this infographic with your kids to help them understand playground safety basics:


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Reviewed by members of
POSNA (Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America)

The Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) is a group of board eligible/board certified orthopaedic surgeons who have specialized training in the care of children’s musculoskeletal health. 

Learn more about this topic at POSNA’s OrthoKids website:

Playground Safety

Nash Dvor [Siberia] » What to do if your child is injured on the playground?

This article is not a guide to action or advice from a qualified lawyer, it’s just that we, as people who understand the safety of children’s playgrounds a little more than the average parent, would like to reflect on this topic, imagining, God forbid, ourselves in the place of a parent whose The child was injured on the playground.

The question is really relevant. Annually at Russian playgrounds 40,000 children are injured of varying severity, at the end of 2020 expected significant excess of this figure , this is due to the fact that due to quarantine measures, children have more free time, more energy and desire to throw it out in places for outdoor games. And parents this year focused their attention mostly on the prevention of infectious diseases in their children, forgetting that the street hides many other dangers.

The child’s psyche is arranged in such a way that the feeling of pain is the only barrier and a stop factor in children’s exploration of the adult world and the possibilities of their body. The works of Scandinavian psychologists show that with the growth of safety on playgrounds, the number of injuries received by children does not decrease, only the severity of these injuries decreases. The task of adults is therefore to create a space for children to play , excluding serious injury and mutilation . Bruises and abrasions during children’s games, according to educators, doctors, child psychologists and many parents, are common and do not require special attention.

Let’s say that a terrible happened, and the injury received by the child on the playground is serious , the parents are under stress, the child’s psyche and his health are undermined. What to do if has a feeling of that the injury was caused not by parental negligence in organizing a children’s walk, but by the carelessness of the owner / the creator / the designer of the playground where the injury was received?

In this case, of course, wants to find the guilty . ‘s first desire is to turn to lawyers or the police, in the hope that they will definitely help. But we would advise to start with to assess the situation of , inspect the ill-fated playground, find out who owns it.

Finding the owner of a playground is usually easy , courtyard playgrounds are owned by homeowners associations or management companies . administrations of districts or municipalities where this site is located are responsible for sites in public spaces. For playgrounds located on private territory , the owner of this territory is responsible.

Inspection of playground may clearly show that is being serviced not properly . Signs of unsatisfactory maintenance :

• children’s play equipment is damaged : structural elements are missing, spatial stability is broken, equipment elements are broken;
• safety coating violated : removed sand or pebbles were not poured in time, synthetic or rubber coatings are damaged;
• rubbish and foreign objects on the playground can become sudden obstacles during children’s play;
• there is no information board with operating instructions, or the information on it is not readable.

Recall that technical regulation of the EAEU 042/2017 obliges the owners of playgrounds to service playgrounds in accordance with GOST R 52301-2013 . In particular, operator (site owner or service provider) is obliged to monitor the technical condition of equipment , which includes:

• inspection and testing of equipment before commissioning;
• regular visual inspection ;
• functional inspection ;
• annual basic inspection .

All the above actions are reflected in the corresponding acts , which are kept by the operator.

Potential injury also may be the result of incorrect site design . For example, when the project includes children’s play equipment , which obviously does not meet the requirements of TR EAEU 042/2017 and does not have the appropriate certificate . Also design errors are non-observance of safety zones children’s play equipment and discrepancy between the impact-absorbing properties of the safety coating and the height of the fall .

When inspecting the playground, we recommend to pay special attention to the safety coating . On 99% of the sites, “safety” coatings do not meet safety requirements! Often this can be determined without even being an expert. Dangerous surface – hard to the touch , you won’t want to fall on it even from zero height, not to mention a height of 2 or 3 meters (remember, 3 meters is the maximum allowable fall height on a children’s playground). This is due to the fact that technology was violated during the production of the coating, or coating thickness is not enough for shock absorbing properties.

If a child was seriously injured exactly when falling on an impact-absorbing coating , and there are doubts about its quality, we would recommend to conduct an examination of the coating for compliance with the requirements of TR EAEU 042/2017 and GOST R EN 117 -2013 .

When in doubt about the safety of children’s play equipment , you should request from the operator a technical passport and certificates for this equipment, then check them for compliance with TR EAEU 042/2017 and for authenticity . Also it is important to check the authority that issued the certificate for the appropriate authority. The entire list of certification bodies that have the right to issue certificates of conformity TR EAEU 042/2017 is available on the website of the Federal Accreditation Service. If the equipment was manufactured before the TR EAEU 042/2017 came into force, then must be certificates of voluntary certification according to GOST R 52169-2012. The powers of the authority issuing such certificates are also checked on the website of the Federal Accreditation Service.

Carry out a superficial analysis of playground for compliance with safety requirements and / or attached documentation for authenticity can be our security specialist Pavel. Write to us , send photos of sites and documents, we are we will be glad to help you .

Of course, only the court can give a final conclusion on those guilty of injury , based on the opinion of forensic experts or experts of certification bodies . The following websites can help you find an expert: expert.gost.ru , sudex.ru and pub.fsa.gov.ru .

So, if after a preliminary inspection of the playground and documents provided by the owner, it becomes obvious that the playground is unsafe and the fault of the designer / of the creator / of the site owner is seen, legal assistance should be used and the judicial authorities and the prosecutor’s office should be involved in the proceedings .

We wish you never to need the materials of this article.

Injuries on playgrounds

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A playground, even the newest one, is a place of increased danger, so parents should be extremely careful and monitor the baby during the game. Knowing the safety rules is the best way to prevent child injuries on playgrounds.

Playground Safety Rules


The main rule that is universal for everyone is the attention of parents. Before the kid happily runs to play in the sandbox or ride down the hill, make sure that nothing threatens his health. Check if there are broken glass and other dangerous objects in the sandbox, if the elements of the gaming equipment are broken. A child under 7 years of age must be on the site under the constant supervision of parents, caregivers or accompanying adults. Older children need to be told about the dangers they may be exposed to during the game: you can not jump from a swing or carousel that is in motion; pushing when going down a hill; play on faulty equipment, etc. Next, we will consider all the possible dangers in more detail. You will also learn what to do if the playground in your yard is broken, in need of repair or replacement.


Playground dangers


Swing


According to the current GOSTs, the installation of a swing with rigid suspension elements is prohibited. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of such swings in our yards, and according to statistics, they are the most dangerous and traumatic type of playground equipment. Hard suspension swings are dangerous for children of all ages. During the game, the child is so keen on what is happening that he may not notice the danger and run very close to the swing.

How to be

Explain to the child that it is strictly forbidden to come close to the swinging swing, you can get a strong blow with a metal seat. You can ride only on a swing with soft suspensions made of chains or ropes; while swinging, you need to hold on tightly to the handles. In case of a fall, you should not rise, you should crawl away and wait until the swing stops.


Carousels


Fun carousels are also dangerous if used incorrectly. Most often, children are injured if they jump from a spinning carousel, or vice versa, try to climb onto it. Before you let your child ride, check how safe the equipment is. The safety zone of the carousel is equal to the area of ​​the landing zone. Within this zone there should not be any foreign objects. Moving structural elements must be smooth and have rounded edges. The design of the carousel prevents the child from getting stuck under the platform. Make sure the carousel parts do not protrude beyond the outer edges of the platform above the playground surface.


How to be


Teach your baby to use the carousel correctly, not to jump off until it stops completely and not to come close even if he really wants to play.


Sandbox

This seemingly safest element of the gaming town can cause a lot of trouble if not treated with due attention. As a rule, in most playgrounds, sandboxes are not cleared of debris, and a child can easily be injured by objects in the sand. In addition, children are very fond of throwing sand, very young children try to taste it, not suspecting that it is fraught with a great many dangerous bacteria.

How to be


Carefully inspect the sandbox for the presence of foreign objects in it.


Slide


The biggest danger a child is exposed to on a slide is falling. Very often the child does not want to wait for his turn to ride, and starts to push. If the equipment does not comply with GOST, then it is very easy to fall down the hill. Injury can also be received at the time of ascent or descent.


How to be


Do not allow children to ride down a slide that has no railings. The descent of the slide must have protective sides that guide and hold the child while driving. A crossbar is installed at the starting site, forcing the child to sit down. All play equipment must be selected according to the age of the baby.


If possible, try to choose playgrounds in a quiet and peaceful place, equipped with a safe rubber coating. Always be close to the child and secure him, even if he strongly resists. We told you about the main points that you should definitely pay attention to, but only a qualified specialist can carry out a full safety check of the playground.


What to do if the playground in your yard is not safe


If you find a broken playground in Nizhny Novgorod, please let us know or make a note on the website of the project Children’s Playground according to GOST dppg.su
According to existing requirements, each playground must have an information plate with the name of the organization on the balance sheet of which it is located. You need to contact this organization with a statement about the need to repair / replace faulty gaming equipment. In the absence of a plate, everything can be found out in the house management company.


The Sunny City Company provides assistance to all Nizhny Novgorod residents and residents of other regions in matters related to the safety of playgrounds. Here you can consult on the current legislation in this area, find out what requirements apply to each specific type of gaming and sports equipment, its installation and operation. Send any question you are interested in to our email address [email protected] or ask by phone:


Nizhny Novgorod: +7(831)217-02-42
Moscow: +7(499)504-04-26
Free hotline: +8-800-333-06-52

Tag swing

A broken carousel was dismantled in Bryansk after a 3-year-old child was injured
The boy broke his lip on a metal support

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