Why are we here?

That's a great question, worthy of an appropriate answer.

We want to provide objective information for playground architects, designers, owners, operators, as well as parents or others who care for and about child playground safety. Whether it's a residential play area in your back yard, a large complex of playgrounds with a variety of play structures and activities, or anything in between, it's important to have access to information. Without it, anyone can make bad decisions, from time to time.

We feel the best decisions are made when one explores, understands and weighs the pros and cons of all potentially viable options... especially when it comes to child safety.

Many people are either uninformed or misinformed about proper playground safety, current statistics and testing standards, often due to what we feel is a real lack of industry information readily accessible. There are a lot of playground architects, designers, owners, operators and parents that may not make the best choices for their needs, sometimes resulting in unsafe playgrounds or playground situations and preventable injuries.

It's not that ill-informed decisions are made intentionally. In fact, they're probably done based on limited and potentially unreliable information, unknowingly. It's difficult for anyone to make an educated decision without access to full and complete information. In short, it's because most people don't know what they don't know until they know it. Like the old saying, hindsight is always 20/20.

You may want to become familiar with the website and navigating your way around by using the buttons on the left, the text links near the top of the page above the headline and underneath the graphics, or by using the listing below. The listing provides the primary pages of the website, along with a brief description of the content on that top-level page, and the segments of that page. Nested underneath each primary page are the links to the sections and sub-pages under it, along with further description.

Simply click any text links underneath the header above or buttons in the menu to the left, to access a primary page, or you may navigate directly to a specific page, portion of a page or sub-page from the list below.

• Playground Injury Information & Statistics
  The types of playground injuries are usually defined by age group, and alarmingly the rate of certain injuries have actually increased in the past couple of decades. This is why we feel it's so important to provide access to information compiled from various trusted sources in one location, plus playground injury statistics for review and consideration.
  Playgrounds are safe, aren't they?: A nice thought, but many playgrounds are not properly maintained.
  Hey, we survived!: Yes, we did, AND there's been a 45% reduction in child playground deaths since 1988.
  You don't know what you don't know...: So true, and what you don't know could hurt them.
  SafeKids.org safety reports: 21% increase in fall-related deaths for children in the U.S. from 2000-2004.
  Playground Injury Statistics: Over 600 kids a day end up in emergency rooms from playground injuries in the U.S.
  What does this say about playground safety?: Better choices could reduce or prevent child injuries and deaths.
  

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• Playground Safety Specs, Testing Standards, Planning & Installation
  Brief description and analysis of playground safety specifications & standards, along with recommendations as to how to implement what we know into the creation of safer play areas for kids through proper planning and fall safety surface installation.
  Playground Safety Basics : A basic overview of playground safety, why child age matters, & loose-fill surfacing.
  Playground Installation Tips: 7 easy steps for determining the proper playset safety zone, position, perimeter border, safety surface depth, use of geotextile, installation & maintenance.
  Safety Standards & Specifications: A listing with online links to the North American playground safety standards.
  Historical Safety Information and Reliability : A brief explanation about how this has changed over the years.
  Probability of Head Injuries to HIC Scores : A document by CAPP which relates HIC scores to the severity of injuries.

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• Playground Safety News Stories
  SafestPlayground.com news stories which are written to provide vital information about playground safety, in an effort to make playgrounds safer for children, which can prevent serious injuries and deaths.
  “Are Our Playgrounds (and Industry-Related Fall Safety Standards) Really Safe?” An informative and educational SafestPlayground.com news article about changes whch should be made to improve the U.S. playground industry fall safety standards, the testing methods used, and playground safety surfaces to prevent more playground injuries and deaths, based on what we know, and in some cases have known for many years, and not chosen to implement.
  

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• Playground Safety Resource Documents
  Here we provide links directly to documents you may find useful regarding playground safety, including those referenced throughout this website. The links to playground safety websites themselves is on the Online Links page.
  U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Publications: Online resources for playground safety from the CPSC.
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Publications: Great online info from the CDC on playground safety.
  National Safety Council Checklist: A quick playground safety reference and checklist.
  SafeKids USA Resources: Lots of documents and resources for playground safety.
  National Program for Playground Safety Resources: The NPPS provides information specific to playground safety.
  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: A link to the NHTSA document that changed crash safety standards.
  ASTM Playground Safety Testing Standards: A listing with links to the ASTM documents.
  

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• Methods of Impact Attenuation & Types of Safety Surfacing
  Information about playground safety surfacing impact attenuation methods and common types of safety surfaces.
  Methods of Impact Absorption for Playground Safety Surfaces: Covering the basics of dispersion, compression and combination.
  Types of Playground Safety Surfaces: Ranging from monolithic or unitary surfaces like PIP, playground mats & tiles, and synthetic turf with padding, to loose-fill surfaces such as sand, pea gravel, wood chips & EWF, and recycled rubber mulch.
  Playground Safety Surfacing Conclusions: A synopsis of the elements which ought to be considered when evaluating, selecting and installing a playground safety surface.
  

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• Playground Safety Website Links
  This is the place to find a list of websites we feel are useful, ranging from industry and governmental websites, to more informational sites for products or services relating to improving playground safety for children. Links to specific documents can be found on our Resources page.
  

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