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FACTS

NEWS from CPSC

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Office of Information and Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 2, 2001 Release # 01-213

CPSC Consumer Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: Scott Wolfson, (301) 504-7051 KaBOOM! Media Contact: Kimberley Rudd, (312) 822-5871

Report Finds More Deaths on Home Playgrounds Than Public Playgrounds
CPSC, KaBOOM! Launch Campaign to Make Backyard Playgrounds Safer

WASHINGTON, D.C - A new report (pdf) shows that over a ten-year period, more deaths to children occurred on backyard playgrounds than on public playgrounds. From 1990 to August 2000, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has reports of nearly 150 deaths to children under the age of 15 involving playground equipment; at least 90 of these occurred in a home setting. Almost three-fourths of the deaths in home locations resulted from hangings from ropes, cords, homemade rope swings, and other similar items. New safety standards, aimed at reducing the risk of strangulation, require that ropes be secured at both ends and that makers of home equipment warn against attaching additional ropes.

Playground equipment is also a leading cause of injuries to children. In 1999 alone, it is estimated that there were more than 200,000 playground-equipment injuries, with almost 47,000 injuries on home playgrounds to children under age 15. The proportion of pre-school children (younger than age 5) injured on playground equipment was higher on home playgrounds than on playgrounds in general. Almost 40 percent of those injured at home were younger than 5 years, as compared with about 27 percent on other playgrounds.

"Children should be out on the playground where they belong, not in the hospital emergency room, " said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "We believe that by sharing our simple safety tips with parents, home playgrounds can be a place where kids have fun and play safely."

"Years of advocacy for safe public playgrounds has helped raise standards for those play spaces with the intention to lower injuries to children," said Darell Hammond, co-founder and CEO of KaBOOM!, a non- profit organization based in Washington, D.C.. "Now, it's time to use our experience, and print and Internet resources, to make families aware of the dangers too often posed by home playsets."

CPSC and KaBOOM! are teaming up to reduce playground hazards by providing parents with safety information. Parents are encouraged to install and maintain protective surfacing, eliminate unsafe ropes and check for potentially hazardous hooks and edges on swings and slides on home playgrounds.

CPSC's study found that only 9 percent of home playgrounds had protective, shock-absorbing surfacing. Dirt and grass, which are the most prevalent surfaces under home playground equipment, do not adequately protect children from serious head injuries.

According to the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) nearly 150,000 children were injured seriously enough on playgrounds in 1997 to require Emergency Room Treatment.

An estimated 15 children die each year as a result of playground injuries.

In California in 1996 1,028 children were hospitalized due to playground injuries.

The following dangers are according to a CFA report released in 1996 and could exist in the play area at your local city park, association tot lot, beach play equipment, at your favorite fast food play area or even in the play equipment you have in your back yard. Where ever there is play equipment, we must look for hazards.

Ø      85% OF ALL PLAYGROUNDS LACK ADEQUATE PROTECTIVE SURFACE

Ø      39% OF ALL SLIDES AND CLIMBING EQUIPMENT DID NOT HAVE ADEQUATE FALL ZONES

Ø      45% HAD SLIDERS WHERE THE PLAY EQUIPMENT IS 6-FEET HIGH WHICH A ENTRAPMENT ADDS TO THE RISK OF INJURY

Ø      41% HAD SWING TO CLOSE TOGETHER

Ø      47% HAD ENTRAPMENT HAZARDS

Ø      51% HAD UNACCEPTABLE DANGEROUS EQUIPMENT

Most parents have no idea of the proceeding facts relating to playground injuries and the chances they are taking with their children; due to hidden hazards, dangerous non-compliant conditions and old worn equipment badly in need of maintenance, repairs and possibly total replacement. By adhering to California's legislation SB2733 and R-39-97 you can help to make sure your community parks and play equipment are as safe as possible. All public access play equipment must have a one time Safety Audit performed by a Certified Playground Safety Inspector. It is also required that there be Periodic Safety Inspections performed on all public access play equipment.  Frequency of the Periodic Safety Inspection is determined by many different factors including age of the equipment and use factors which include vandalism, amount of usage, materials used; such as loose fill material and/or safety surface rubber, material use in the construction of the equipment and the age of the children using the play equipment. Also environmental factors are considered; including climate, location in relationship to sun, salt air and the proximity of trees and other foliage. J. Clark, Inc. and our SafePark Program will address your Safety Audit and Periodic Inspection requirements as well as handling your maintenance and repair needs.  As we all know safety must come first in order to keep children safe and healthy while enjoying public play equipment. It is also necessary to make every effort to maintain a safe play environment in order to protect your operating budget from potential litigation.