1O’Brien, Craig W.; Injuries and Investigated Deaths Associated with Playground Equipment, 2001–2008. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: Washington DC, October, 2009. 3 Handbook for Public Playground Safety 1.7 Playground Injuries The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has long recognized the potential hazards that exist with the use of playground equipment, with over 200,000 estimated emergency room-treated injuries annually. The most recent study of 2,691 playground equipment-related incidents reported to the CPSC from 2001-2008 indicated that falls are the most common hazard pattern (44% of injuries) followed by equipment-related hazards, such as breakage, tip over, design, and assembly (23%).1 Other hazard patterns involved entrapment and colliding other children or stationary equipment. Playground-related deaths reported to the Commission involved entanglement of ropes, leashes, or clothing; falls; and impact from equipment tip over or structural failure. The recommendations in this handbook have been developed to address the hazards that resulted in playgroundrelated injuries and deaths. The recommendations include those that address: • The potential for falls from and impact with equipment • The need for impact attenuating protective surfacing under and around equipment • Openings with the potential for head entrapment • The scale of equipment and other design features related to user age and layout of equipment on a playground • Installation and maintenance procedures • General hazards presented by protrusions, sharp edges, and crush or shear points 1.8 Definitions Barrier — An enclosing device around an elevated platform that is intended to prevent both inadvertent and deliberate attempts to pass through the device. Composite Structure — Two or more play structures attached or functionally linked, to create one integral unit that provides more than one play activity. Critical Height — The fall height below which a life-threatening head injury would not be expected to occur. handbook, are also essential for increasing public playground safety. A playground should allow children to develop gradually and test their skills by providing a series of graduated challenges. The challenges presented should be appropriate for agerelated abilities and should be ones that children can perceive and choose to undertake. Toddlers, preschool- and school-age children differ dramatically, not only in physical size and ability, but also in their intellectual and social skills. Therefore, age-appropriate playground designs should accommodate these differences with regard to the type, scale, and the layout of equipment. Recommendations throughout this handbook address the different needs of toddlers, preschool-age, and school-age children; “toddlers” refers to children ages 6 months through 2 years of age, “preschool-age” refers to children 2 through 5 years, and “school-age” refers to children 5 through 12 years. The overlap between these groups is anticipated in terms of playground equipment use and provides for a margin of safety. Playground designers, installers and operators should be aware that the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is a comprehensive civil rights law which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Titles II and III of the ADA require, among other things, that newly constructed and altered State and local government facilities, places of public accommodation, and commercial facilities be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. Recreation facilities, including play areas, are among the types of facilities covered by titles II and III of the ADA. The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Boards – also referred to as the “Access Board” – has developed accessibility guidelines for newly constructed and altered play areas that were published October 2000. The play area guidelines are a supplement to the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). Once these guidelines are adopted as enforceable standards by the Department of Justice, all newly constructed and altered play areas covered by the ADA will be required to comply. These guidelines also apply to play areas covered by the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA). Copies of the play area accessibility guidelines and further technical assistance can be obtained from the U.S. Access Board, 1331 F Street, NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20004-1111; 800-872-2253, 800-993-2822 (TTY), www.access-board.gov.
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