Rubber Stamps

Proper surfacing on public and backyard playgrounds can drastically decrease fall injuries and their severity. The main goal of soft playground surfacing is to prevent head concussions, with prevention of fractures as another important goal. This goal is achieved by using one of the correct types of surfacing and installing it to the proper depth. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) use the following definition for playground surfacing: “material to be used within the use zone of any playground equipment.” It’s a simple definition that encompasses much.

The “use zone” is defined as the minimum area requiring safe surfacing that extends beyond the ground footprint of the equipment. Sometimes this is called the “fall zone.” Here are some calculations for the extent of fill material around common playground and backyard equipment:

Swings: Multiply the height of the pivot point (the top) of swing sets by two. This is how far out in both directions the fill material should extend.

Slides: Measure the height of the slide, and add four feet to this number. This is how many feet out beyond the slide the fill material should extend.

Other equipment: For other equipment, extend fill material a minimum of 6 feet, and a maximum of 14.5 feet beyond all other equipment.

While most public playgrounds have a shock absorbing protective surface under and around playground apparatus, only a small proportion of backyard playgrounds do. On home play equipment, the CPSC reports 50,000 injuries per year, nearly 70% of which result from falling from equipment to a non-protective surface, such as grass or dirt. The reason grass and dirt are considered an inadequate surface is that they become hardened and compacted over time.

Besides grass and dirt, other inadequate or harmful surfaces under playground equipment include asphalt and concrete. These surfaces obviously don’t absorb shock when children fall from equipment, and fortunately, these surfaces are becoming scarcer as safer surfacing options replace them. There are two basic types of shock-absorbing surfacing under and around playground equipment: loose fill and unitary surfaces.

Loose fill surfaces for playgrounds include sand, wood chips, mulch, rubber chips, and ground-up recycled tires.

Sand, wood chips, pea gravel, and mulch are the most common backyard playground safety surfaces. These are not the best materials for absorbing shock and preventing serious injuries, but they are definitely better choices than asphalt or packed earth.

Recycled rubber chips are more likely to be found in public playgrounds. This type of surface has a better safety record than wood mulch and pea gravel. A 4-inch layer of rubber chips can provide adequate protection around equipment with a fall height of 8 feet, and a 6-inch layer can protect under equipment with a 13-food fall height. These surfaces generally have a lifespan of ten years and are available in different colors.

As good as loose fill materials are at protecting children from falling injuries on playgrounds, they are difficult for disabled kids – particularly those in wheelchairs – to navigate. The best surfaces for accommodating wheelchairs are unitary, or all-one-piece surfaces. Shredded, bonded rubber, or a pour-in-place mix should be installed over an asphalt or concrete pad to keep the rubber surface from cracking. These solid surfaces only need to be 2 to 3 inches thick, as opposed to 4 to 6 inches for loose fill rubber and 10 to 12 inches for wood chips, sand, mulch and pea gravel.

A 2001 study by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) determined that surface material on public playgrounds was a good predictor of severity of playground injuries, more so than height of equipment. With a range of materials and prices available for shock absorbing playground surfaces, proper surfacing is one area that can demonstrably improve playground injury statistics. In addition to price, accessibility for disabled children should be considered when choosing playground surfaces.

Playground equipment from AAA State of Play is requires a safety playground surface such as rubber mulch.

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