Are There Any Safety Concerns For Playgrounds?

Image by reiner.kraft

For children, summer time means sipping on some lemonade, relaxing from a long year of school, and having some fun at the park on an outdoor playground. Children get the chance to go crazy and see who can swing the highest, run the fastest and climb the highest on a jungle gym. For kids, the playground becomes a proving ground to test their growing bodies; improve their social skills and the perfect place for exercising. As adults, playgrounds raise some safety concerns, and park and school supervisors constantly monitor the equipment to ensure it is safe and working as intended.

Slides

As a child sits atop of the slide, his heart starts to race in anticipation of the small amount of G-force he’ll experiences. Of course, slides also raise safety concerns because of the sudden changes that can cause a slide to break. For instance, some slides may not be as stable or as durable as they once were, making for a bit of concern. As a school or park supervisor, you always want to inspect the slide to ensure it is tightly secure and does not contain any cracks, especially in aging plastics. For a preschool playground, you want to be sure the slide contains guardrails to prevent the young children from falling, and that each slide is height appropriate.

Swing Sets

“Let’s see who can swing the highest.” Every child has uttered the words at some point to a friend. Before rubberized chains, kids swung with regular metal chains that caused head injuries and bruised fingers. Today, rubberized chains provide safer alternatives, and every swing set should include these safer alternatives.

Another feature you want to look for are rubber seats. Before rubber seats, plastic seats dominated the playground landscape, as did the minor head injuries that accompanied the seats when a child was hit with one. Rubberized seats weigh less and can be found as the main type of seat at most public parks for their safer usage.

Miscellaneous

Never buy a school playground with elevated platforms that do not have guardrails. Any height of 2 and half feet or taller should have guardrails to prevent major head injuries to young children. For safer playgrounds, you might want to buy ones that have angled ladder steps rather than vertical ones. An angled latter make it easier for children to climb and harder for them to slip.

Remember, child safety begins with the adults in charge of building and maintaining a playground set. Inspect the grounds often to ensure no damage comes to the equipment and that materials are in working condition.

Call (877) 777-3700 and let ParknPool help you choose great playgrounds and playground sets for you!