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Playground Equipment Safety Checklist

According to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 200,000 children age 14 and younger visit the emergency room due to playground-related injuries each year. Most injuries occur when a child falls from the equipment to the ground below. Playground equipment safety awareness and prevention is the key to creating a safe play setting for children.

  1. Surface

    • The surface beneath playground structures should be free of hazardous materials, debris and standing water. Loose fill material such as wood chips, mulch, sand, pea gravel or shredded rubber are safe to use underneath playground equipment. Fill material should be 12 inches deep for equipment up to 8 feet high. Material placed beneath equipment that creates a combined height of 12 feet or more with the child standing on the highest platform are not safe. Surface materials should extend at least 6 feet in all directions around from each piece of play equipment. For swings, the surface area should be twice the height of the suspension bar.

    Design

    • Play structures 30 inches or higher, should be 9 feet apart. Spaces that could trap children should be less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches. Playground swings should be at least 24 inches apart with 30 inches between a swing and support frame. Toddler swings with full bucket seats should have their own section. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled the use of plastic animal swings in 1995 and should not be playground equipment. Any elevated area should include guardrails and protective barriers to prevent falls. Check equipment like seesaws and merry-go-rounds for pinch points. Moving playground equipment should be a safe distance from other structures.

    Maintenance

    • Playgrounds should be free of debris and hazardous materials, such as broken glass, sharp rocks, trash and sharp sticks. Sandboxes should be clean and free of animal waste. Hardware on equipment must be secure, rust free, have finished edges and have no broken parts. Regularly maintain large equipment to provide adequate surface layer beneath all areas; packed loosely with no bare spots. Check wooden equipment for splintering, and metal equipment should not shows signs of rust. Discard or replace defective or damaged equipment.

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