Citation

Robitaille Y, Laforest S, Lesage D, Dorval D. J. Saf. Res. 2000; 31(1): 29-34.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The instrument used to measure the capacity of material under playground equipment that absorbs the impact caused by a child falling on it is expensive and impractical when carrying out field experiments. This study compares results obtained by simple observation with those obtained from using such a device (Max-Hic). The goal was to ascertain whether visual inspection can assess a safe threshold of absorption (g-max n = 356 equipments). Based on visual inspection, 59% of surface materials were classified as non-compliant. However, only 21% of all surfaces had a g-max above 200 g. The g-max increases according to the height of equipment and the apparent compactness of the ground. Equipment exceeding 2 m had a mean g-max of 215 g on a compact surface compared to 163 g on a loose surface. In a context of scarce resources, the height of equipment and an obviously hard-packed surface are useful factors for identifying surfaces requiring more immediate attention.