• Watching and stopping dangerous horseplay, such as children throwing protective surfacing materials, jumping from heights, etc. • Watching for and stopping children from wandering away from the play area. 2.3 Selecting Equipment When selecting playground equipment, it is important to know the age range of the children who will be using the playground. Children at different ages and stages of development have different needs and abilities. Playgrounds should be designed to stimulate children and encourage them to develop new skills, but should be in scale with their sizes, abilities, and developmental levels. Consideration should also be given to providing play equipment that is accessible to children with disabilities and encourages integration within the playground. Table 1 shows the appropriate age range for various pieces of playground equipment. This is not an all-comprehensive list and, therefore, should not limit inclusion of current or newly designed equipment that is not specifically mentioned. For equipment listed in more than one group, there may be some modifications or restrictions based on age, so consult the specific recommendations in §5.3. 2.3.1 Equipment not recommended Some playground equipment is not recommended for use on public playgrounds, including: • Trampolines • Swinging gates • Giant strides • Climbing ropes that are not secured at both ends. • Heavy metal swings (e.g., animal figures) – These are not recommended because their heavy rigid metal framework presents a risk of impact injury. • Multiple occupancy swings – With the exception of tire swings, swings that are intended for more than one user are not recommended because their greater mass, as compared to single occupancy swings, presents a risk of impact injury. • Rope swings – Free-swinging ropes that may fray or otherwise form a loop are not recommended because they present a potential strangulation hazard. • Swinging dual exercise rings and trapeze bars – These are rings and trapeze bars on long chains that are generally considered to be items of athletic equipment and are not recommended for public playgrounds. NOTE: The recommendation against the use of exercise rings does not apply to overhead hanging rings such as those used in a ring trek or ring ladder (see Figure 7). 2.4 Surfacing The surfacing under and around playground equipment is one of the most important factors in reducing the likelihood of life-threatening head injuries. A fall onto a shock absorbing surface is less likely to cause a serious head injury than a fall onto a hard surface. However, some injuries from falls, including broken limbs, may occur no matter what playground surfacing material is used. The most widely used test method for evaluating the shock absorbing properties of a playground surfacing material is to drop an instrumented metal headform onto a sample of the material and record the acceleration/time pulse during the impact. Field and laboratory test methods are described in ASTM F1292 Standard Specification for Impact Attenuation of Surface Systems Under and Around Playground Equipment. Testing using the methods described in ASTM F1292 will provide a “critical height” rating of the surface. This height can be considered as an approximation of the fall height below which a life-threatening head injury would not be expected to occur. Manufacturers and installers of playground protective surfacing should provide the critical height rating of their materials. This rating should be greater than or equal to the fall height of the highest piece of equipment on the playground. The fall height of a piece of equipment is the distance between the highest designated play surface on a piece of equipment and the protective surface beneath it. Details for determining the highest designated play surface and fall height on some types of equipment are included in §5 Parts of the Playground. 2.4.1 Equipment not covered by protective surfacing recommendations The recommendations for protective surfacing do not apply to equipment that requires a child to be standing or sitting at ground level. Examples of such equipment are: Handbook for Public Playground Safety
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