Citation

van Weperen W, Rogmans WHJ. Safety Sci. 1991; 14(2): 103-108.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In many countries the safety of children's playgrounds is a well recognized problem, and several efforts have been made to lower the number and severity of playground injuries. The playgrounds under consideration here range from an individual slide at a school yard to a commercially run amusement park; the play equipment may have movable parts, but motor driven equipment is not included. From the available accident statistics it appears that about 50% of all injuries at play-grounds are equipment related. So far, a lot of work has been done in the field of product safety: in many countries standards are available for playground equipment. However, as the equipment is only part of the injury problem, a broader strategy should be applied to achieve additional reductions of the injury problem at playgrounds.This paper deals with the aspects of playground safety to be considered next to the equipment, and the research efforts that are going on in the Netherlands to develop safety criteria for these aspects. The relevant aspects can be divided into the following seven subjects: siting, lay-out, equipment, surfacing, installation, operation and maintenance. An overview will be presented of the safety requirements within each of these groups. Together they constitute a complete frame-work for playground safety which may be used as a basis for both legislation and standardization, not only with regard to the manufacturing of equipment, but concerning the whole life cycle of the playground and all safety aspects involved.