As adults, it is our responsibility to make sure that playground safety is a primary concern when developing new playgrounds. Thankfully, many resources and guidelines exist to make this process simple and clear!

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Playgrounds are designed for fun. They are places where children can run freely, make friends, and learn problem-solving skills! Help Me Grow says, “Unstructured play gives children the freedom to explore, create, and discover without predetermined rules or guidelines. It promotes cognitive development while also promoting physical growth and social and emotional development. It particularly helps with creativity and imagination, problem-solving abilities, and social skills.”

Gone are the days of monkey bars, screeching metal slides, and difficult landings at the bottom of swings!

Improper Protective Surfaces – Inspect Your Playground!

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year emergency departments in the United States treat more than 200,000 children age 14 and younger for playground-related injuries.

At Sports Yodha, we specialize in manufacturing surface materials and providing resources to contribute to safer playgrounds. However, the steps to properly use our materials to contribute to a safer environment are not always obvious to new customers.

Thankfully, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has created a simple playground safety checklist to follow:

1. Make sure the playground surface surrounding the equipment has at least 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand or pea gravel, or mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like material. Critical fall height is an important measure of the length of a fall from any point on the playground equipment. You must make sure the playground surface is at the correct depth so that if a child falls from the playground equipment, he or she can land safely on the playground surface.
2. Check that the protective surface extends at least 6 feet in all directions from the playground equipment. For swings, make sure the surface is twice the height of the suspending bars on both the back and front.
3. Make sure play structures over 30 inches high are spaced at least 9 feet apart. This limits the potential for dangerous jumps from one tall play structure to another.
4. Check for dangerous hardware, such as exposed “S” hooks or protruding bolt ends. It’s important to manually inspect your playground annually to see if it meets your safety standards.
5. Make sure that child entrapment areas, such as openings between railings or stairs, are less than 3.5 inches wide or more than 9 inches deep.
6. Check playground equipment for sharp edges or corners.
7. Watch for slip hazards such as exposed concrete footings, tree trunks, and rocks.
8. Make sure elevated surfaces such as platforms and ramps have guardrails to prevent falls.
9. Inspect playgrounds regularly to see that equipment and surfaces are in good condition.
10. Carefully supervise children on playgrounds to make sure they are safe. Click this link to learn how to develop a playground monitoring plan.

Playground Safety Case Study: Casanova Park

Casanova Park, located in beautiful San Mateo, California, is a great example of a modern, fun, and safe playground. As you can see, there is a clear sight line in every direction that allows adults to supervise their children from anywhere in the park.

Plus, the proper spacing of playground equipment and adequate surface underneath each obstacle make this playground a haven for fun and community building! Casanova Park also highlights TotoTurf’s customizable poured rubber, which is available in many unique colors and combinations.

Maintaining Your Playground

Developing and building your playground safely with all the necessary safety precautions is a responsible job, but it doesn’t end there. Making sure the obstacles, surroundings, and surfaces on your playground are properly maintained is of the utmost importance!

Not only is this a great way to keep people excited about the park for years to come, but scheduling regular maintenance ensures your playground will remain functional and accessible for years to come.

Lucky for you, Sports Yodha has several maintenance programs available as a resource for TotTurf customers. Whether you need a new layer of Refresh Roll Coat to seal the rubber surface or need to patch a hole, we have the solution!

Not sure which surface is right for your playground? Check out our surface types comparison page!

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