CHILD CARE — S.A.F.E. TIPS

SUPERVISION

Children should always be supervised when playing in the outdoor environment. The lack of supervision is a contributing cause of many playground injuries. Supervision is more than watching. Supervisors should provide support for children's play and know how to respond to emergencies. Injuries on the playground have been decreased through supervision training programs. NPPS has an educational supervision training kit that guides schools through the process of how to train staff.

AGE APPROPRIATENESS

School playgrounds should be age appropriate. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission playground equipment should be separated for children ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12. NPPS recommends that schools consider going one step further and separating areas for children in the following manner: PreK, K-2, 3-4, and 5-6.

The American Society for Testing and Materials has recently developed play equipment standards for children ages 6 months through 23 months (ASTM F2373). NPPS recommends that if you are going to purchase play equipment for this age group, you purchase from a company that's equipment meets the ASTM F 2373 standard.

Play for all children, children with disabilities and children without disabilities, should be developmentally appropriate. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has minimum guidelines for playground equipment. NPPS has a CD-ROM training program that offers a clear explanation of the ADA standards for playgrounds.

FALL SURFACING

We all know that when children play, they will fall. The goal should be to provide a soft cushion for them to fall onto. Asphalt, dirt, concrete, and grass are not acceptable surfaces for underneath play equipment. A one foot fall onto concrete can cause a concussion. Appropriate surfaces include loose fill materials such as sand, pea gravel, wood chips, or rubber chips. Rubber tiles, rubber mats, or poured-in-place rubber are acceptable if they meet the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommendations. NPPS has an informative video, Safe Surfaces, that outlines the criteria to ensure that surfaces under and around equipment are appropriate.

Many times, child care centers have playground equipment inside. The typical surfacing provided for this equipment are carpet, mats or safety tiles (not meeting ASTM F.1292). In order to ensure that children are safe from falls inside as well as outside, NPPS undertook a study of community used surfaces found under indoor playground equipment.

Twenty-four different products were obtained from 20 national suppliers and manufacturers of child care and exercise/tumbling/gymnastic equipment. None of these products meet ASTM F.1292.

8 exercise mats 2 rest mats 1 tumbling mat
4 folding mats 2 fitness mats 1 play mat
3 landing mats 2 carpet samples 1 safety floor tile
 

None of the mats were intended for use under the playground equipment, although a survey found that they were being used as surfacing in child care centers. None had tags indicating they had undergone standard testing for basic tumbling mats. Thus, none had been tested for critical fall height protection.

THE RESULT: Nearly 60% of the materials tested had critical height of 12 inches or less. Carpet and safety floor tiles (not meeting ASTM F.1292) provided virtually no fall protection. Only landing mats at 4 inches of thickness consistently registered critical fall height above 3 feet (36 inches) for falls to the surface. Neither the cost nor type of mat were consistently associated with an acceptable critical fall height for falls to the surface. In addition, there were problems of stabilization and securing of play structures and mats in place so that they would not move when they were hit.

If you have playground equipment inside, the acceptable and recommended materials that you need to use should be specifically designed and ASTM F.1292 tested.

These surfaces should include materials that have been tested by ASTM F.1292.

Unitary Materials

  • Rubber mats
  • Shock Absorbing Carpet System

Remember: Be as S.A.F.E. inside as out!

For further information check: Mack, M., Sacks, J., Hudson, S., and Thompson, D. (2001). "The impact attenuation performance of materials used under indoor playground equipment at child care centers." Injury Control and Safety Prevention, Vol 8, No. 1.

EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE

Routine maintenance should be conducted based on manufacturer's recommendations and CPSC guidelines.

  • Checking the equipment for broken equipment, gaps, and entanglements.
  • Periodically sealing, staining, or painting wooden play structures to prevent deterioration. This should be done according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
  • Checking for missing or damaged equipment components.
  • No openings on playground equipment should range between 3.5 to 9 inches where children's heads or bodies could be trapped.
  • Removing scattered debris, litter, feces, or rocks.

NPPS has a comprehensive playground inspection kit for child care centers. The Child Care Assessment Kit for Outdoor Play Environments. includes a training manual, and a training CD-ROM.