<< Back 7/24/02 New playground’s a blast, but is it safe? By Tia Lambert Build a playground and they will come — in droves. Such is the case with the new community funded, designed and built playground at 550 Vance Street in Waynesville. Playgrounds serve an important role in the physical, social, emotional and psychological development of children because they need to play in order to learn how to become effective adults. Children need a safe setting in which to play because without them children will create or discover new unsupervised or inappropriate areas to play. Unfortunately, 150,000 to 250,000 children under the age of 15 are seriously injured each year on playgrounds across the country. About 15 die from their injuries. Here lies the reason for this article. Since completion in April, I have met three children who have sustained broken bones while playing on the equipment. That’s significant. Curiosity took over and I decided to do an informal assessment of the grounds and equipment. Arriving early in the morning, using the Infant/Toddler (ITERS), Early Childhood (ECERS-R) and School Age (SACRS) Rating Scales, endorsed by the North Carolina Division of Child Development, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (document #4327) as guidelines, I proceeded to climb up and over, crawl over and under, swing and balance and examine most crooks and crannies on the playground for safety, design, maintenance and age appropriateness. What I discovered was positive, but there were some red flag areas. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons has produced some guidelines for better playground design and safer use of equipment called “Play it Safe.” For most playgrounds there are four main problem areas — the design and arrangement of the equipment, how well the equipment is installed and maintained, how the children use the equipment and the surfaces or “cushioning” under the equipment or “fall zones.” But playgrounds don’t have to be hazardous. The authors of the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scales state: “Although no gross motor area that challenges children can ever be completely safe, it is possible to minimize the causes of most serious injuries.” A playground needs to be challenging or it will not be used. There is no question that this playground is challenging. Most playgrounds are geared toward preschoolers, so what is great about this equipment is that it is physically challenging to older children, but here is where the issues of safety arise. There are two sections to the playground, the Tot Spot and the more advanced side for school-age children. According to the Environmental Rating Scales infants are designated as birth through 11 months, toddlers as 12 through 30 months, and preschoolers aged 31 months to five years. The most prominent design flaw is there is not a specific area designated for preschoolers. The Tot Spot has a great setup, especially for dramatic play, but older toddlers and preschool children soon become bored and migrate to the other section which is not safely equipped for that age group. Twenty percent of all injuries occur due to design and installation. Much of the equipment in the main play area is designed for older children. There are a few pieces mixed in with this equipment that are age appropriate and safe for children ages 3-6, but in combination with the advanced pieces parents might assume all the equipment is appropriate for the preschool age group. For example, most of the Ingles Challenge and the Boat equipment is for older school-age children, in fact many pieces are really age appropriate for middle school children, but combined with the tube slide and the suspended bridge, which are safe and appropriate for preschoolers, a situation develops with mixed age groups playing at different ability levels. Most older children are not closely supervised throwing another variable into the mix; that is, older children run faster, play harder and are not always careful of smaller children. There are some other design concerns as well. For example, there should be at least six feet around all sides of each piece of equipment allowing a safe, even flow of movement from one apparatus to another. Equipment should not cross or “dump into” another fall zone or traffic area. This is not the case for most of the equipment on the playground and parents need to be advised. There is not adequate space for open running except in front or behind the swings and there are many tripping hazards. The only two slides that are truly safe are the tube slides. The Ingles Challenge slide is over six feet high and a fall from the top or sides could result in a serious injury since the cushioning around the fall zone is too compacted. There should be at least 6 inches of uncompacted, loose cushioning under each fall zone and it should extend six feet beyond the external limits of the climbing equipment. The Tot Spot slide is dangerously high and should be hooded. According to the Infant/Toddler Rating Scale (ITERS), slides and or climbing equipment should be no higher than the children for which it is designed. The train in the Tot Spot is designed for dramatic play, not climbing. A fall onto the hard platform or front rails could result in a serious injury. The crawl zones on both sides of the playground could be dangerous and many involve ducking which could result in a head injury. The Ingles Challenge tire swing is simply dangerous and younger school-age children should be closely supervised. Parents should be strongly cautioned that there are many hidden or “quiet” spots under the equipment that are very difficult to access by adults and in these areas I have witnessed improper behavior by unsupervised children. Seventy-five percent of all injuries are from falls. According to the Orthopedics Academy, “Falls are the most common injury ... Often children are hurt not only by the fall but by being struck by the equipment as they fall.” Many fall zones throughout the playground are complicated by the fact that if a child did fall the possibility of hitting part of the apparatus or another piece of equipment on the way down was more acute than hitting the compacted ground cover. Thirty-six percent of all injuries are from lack of maintenance. I can assure parents of one thing and that is the maintenance team is on the job. The morning of my informal assessment I discovered quite a few protruding nails and screws, many of them at eye or head level. I went directly to the Waynesville Recreation Center and asked for whomever was in charge of maintaining the equipment and grounds. I was introduced to Malcolm Beasley, maintenance supervisor. He was genuinely concerned and worried and we set up a meeting next morning. At 8 a.m. on the dot, Malcolm and maintenance worker Russell Cochran toured the grounds with me as I pointed out the nails and screws. I was very reassured to hear them discuss repair strategies. We looked at some other areas of concern and in the process we talked about our children and about how important supervision is to children’s safety. Malcolm called Larry Leatherwood, who served as the volunteer project manager. He reassured me of the diligence with which he and the volunteer committee continue to assess the playground. I feel confident knowing Malcolm and his crew are there every day keeping it safe for kids, but as Malcolm pointed out, supervision is a key to keeping any play area safe. Forty-four percent of all playground injuries are due to lack of supervision and improper behavior. Children should always be properly supervised, and combined with a well designed and maintained playground, this task becomes much easier. The intent of this article is not to criticize, it is simply to serve as a “heads up” to parents. A playground should be a source of pride and a valued resource for the entire community, but it can be dangerous if not used properly. As most parents know, a truly safe play area is a fallacy. The only safe play area is one in which all children are properly supervised. (Lambert served as the Region 1 coordinator for the Star-Rated License Project through the Division of Child Development at Western Carolina University, owned and operated a nursery school and is a former high school teacher. She lives in Waynesville with her husband and two children. To review her entire assessment, contact Lambert at tvighochi@aol.com.)