Design and Maintain Your Playground for Fun and Safety

Playgrounds allow children to have fun, interact with each other, and challenge themselves to tackle new heights. Unfortunately, they also can lead to injuries. About 200,000 children go to U.S. emergency rooms each year after getting hurt on a playground, mostly because they fell from equipment to the ground. You can’t prevent every mishap, but you can reduce the risk of accidents at your church, school, or daycare with proper playground design and maintenance.

Use this checklist to do a quick inspection of your ministry’s playground equipment, if you cannot answer “Yes” to any question, make plans to address them with your team:

• Was your playground equipment designed and installed by professionals?
• Does your playground equipment sit on at least 9 to 12 inches of shock-absorbing surface material, and is it firmly anchored to the ground?
• Are elevated play areas on your playground protected with continuous guardrails. (20 inches above the ground for preschoolers, 30 inches above the ground for school-aged children)?
• Is the space between handrails and ladder rungs no larger than 3.5 x 9 inches to prevent head entrapment?
• Are your playground swings spaced at least two feet apart and 30 inches from the side poles to help prevent crashes?
• Is your playground separated from roadways with a fence, wall, or other secure barrier?
• Is your playground cleaned regularly and inspected for broken glass or sharp, metal objects?
• Is your playground equipment regularly inspected for worn or missing parts, loose bolts, sharp edges or points, damaged “S” hooks, and exposed components that could trip, pinch, or crush someone?
• Are moving parts on your playground equipment properly lubricated?
• Is splintered or cracked wood repaired as soon as possible?
• Are children under the age of 5 accompanied by at least two adults at all times when using your playground? Are proper adult-to-child ratios for supervision followed?
• Do children know how to use the equipment correctly and understand the rules and expectations for playground safety?

If you’d like a more comprehensive resource, download the Playground Safety Handbook. This 55-page guide from the Consumer Product Safety Commission offers the current U.S. standards on creating and maintaining a safe public playground.

Playground Design Tips

• Use equipment designed for playgrounds. Don’t design your own equipment. Instead, buy from a manufacturer that adheres to strict industry standards. Your manufacturer should follow guidelines set by ASTM International, one of the largest developers of standards in the world. The guidelines are designed to reduce the likelihood of injuries on playgrounds.
• Hire professional installers for new equipment. Experts discourage do-it-yourself installation because it increases the likelihood of mistakes and your ministry’s liability if a child is injured on the structure.
• Use proper safety surfacing. Falls are the primary cause of playground injuries. The material underneath and around playground equipment should be soft and shock absorbing. Outdoors, this typically means sand, gravel, wood chips, or rubber mats. Indoors, appropriate mats and rubber flooring are needed.
• Anchor play equipment firmly to the playground floor or ground.

Equipment Maintenance Tips

• Identify hazardous equipment. Remove play equipment associated with frequent injuries.
• Clean playgrounds regularly. Be alert for hazards such as broken glass or sharp metal objects. Dirty equipment is an indication that you may not have kept up with routine maintenance and repair. Walkways should be clear of trash and clutter to prevent tripping.
• Regularly inspect play equipment. Here's what you should watch for:
  • worn or missing parts
  • loose bolts
  • sharp edges or points
  • damaged “s” hooks
  • torn or frayed safety netting
  • torn or frayed rope equipment
  • loose sewing connections in cargo webbing
  • torn or frayed and exposed components that could trip, pinch, or crush someone
  • improperly lubricated moving parts
  • splintered or cracked wood

Parking Lot Playgrounds: Avoiding Liability

You can best protect yourself and your ministry from liability by not allowing neighborhood children to play in your parking lot. If that response is not a practical option for your church, here’s what you can do to minimize the risk of liability:

• Keep asphalt or concrete parking lots free of holes and large cracks.
• Repair depressions in the parking lot where water or ice accumulate.
• Post signs stating that persons not associated with the church who use church facilities do so at their own risk.
• If you use cables or chains to block access to certain areas, cover them with 4-inch diameter yellow plastic tubing to increase visibility, or replace them with gates.
• Paint parking stops, curbs, speed bumps, and other raised surfaces with yellow safety paint.
• If you see children behaving improperly, or if the parking lot is needed for a church activity, ask the children to leave the property.

The information provided in this article is intended to be helpful, but it does not constitute legal advice and is not a substitute for the advice from a licensed attorney in your area. We strongly encourage you to regularly consult with a local attorney as part of your risk management program.

 

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