Playground Safety

The rules aim to stop the injuries that kill or disable: a fall onto hard ground, a head caught in a gap, a cord caught on a slide.

Why

Falls lead, so most rules are about falling: how high, onto what, and where the child lands.

The drawing shows what the rules cover. The numbers follow the order of this guide.

Key numbers

Sections

Fall height

Falls are the most common way children get hurt, so the first question is how far a child can fall.

Fall height is how far a child can drop: from the highest place meant for play to the cushioned ground below. Swings are the exception: measured from the pivot, where the swing hangs from the top bar.

That highest place is the designated play surface: anything raised for standing, walking, crawling, sitting or climbing.

The tallest fall height on the playground decides how protective the ground must be.

Surfacing

Fall height says how far a child drops. Surfacing is what the child lands on.

Surfacing is the cushioned layer under and around the equipment. It is one of the biggest factors in preventing deadly head injuries.

It cannot stop every injury: broken arms happen on any surface.

Never hard ground directly under equipment. Grass and dirt do not count either: wear and weather take away their cushion.

Two kinds

Critical height

A lab drops a metal head onto a sample of the surfacing. The test is F1292, a voluntary standard from ASTM International, a standards group. The result is its critical height: the fall height below which a life-threatening head injury would not be expected.

The rule: critical height at least the highest fall height on the playground.

Soft or hard

Surfacing depth

Critical height sets how much protection is enough. For loose fill, the next question is how much to put down.

For loose fill, depth is the protection. The CPSC table gives the fall height each material covers at a set depth.

Those depths are measured after the fill has packed down from use and weather.

• Never less than 9 in., except shredded rubber at 6 in.
• Loose fill settles at least 25%: install 12 in. where 9 in. is needed.

Use zones

Soft ground only helps where a child lands. So how far around the equipment does it have to reach?

The use zone is the cushioned ground where a child falling or jumping off would land. It is also kept clear for walking around the equipment.

Most equipment gets 6 ft in every direction. Nothing goes inside: no benches, posts or rocks.

A composite structure, several play structures joined into one unit, counts as one piece: 6 ft from the outside of the whole structure.

One exception: the zones of two low pieces of stationary equipment may overlap. Spacing, below, shows when.

Swings get more, because children jump off them in motion.

Zone drawer

Spacing

Age groups

Who is the playground for? Many rules change with the age of the children.

The handbook sorts children into three age groups, each with its own list of suitable equipment. Design for the group the playground is meant for; inspectors judge it by that group too.

• Give each age group its own area, with a buffer like shrubs or benches between them.
• Post signs saying which ages the equipment is for.

Level 1 check

Swings

The Level 1 rules apply to all equipment. Each kind of equipment adds its own numbers, starting with swings.

Swing fall height runs from the pivot, where the chain turns on the top bar, to the surfacing.

Nothing may overlap the zone in front and behind.

Bucket swing: twice the drop from the pivot to the top of the seat, in front and behind.

Clearances

Tire swings

Swing rules

• Not attached to composite structures, the linked decks-and-slides kind.
• Two belt swings per bay, one section of the swing frame, at most.
• Bucket swings on their own structure or bay; tire swings with no other swing in the bay.
• Light rubber or plastic seats; no wood or metal seats.
• Nothing sticks out more than 1/8 in. on the front, back or underside.
• S-hooks, the S-shaped hooks that hang the chains from the top bar or the seat, pinched closed.
• No fiber rope to hang swings: it can wear out over time.
• No horizontal cross-bars on A-frame supports, the A-shaped legs at each end.
• Set swings apart from other play. A low fence or hedge around them helps, outside the use zone and low enough to see over.

Slides

Slides come next. Their numbers start at the deck at the top and end at the exit.

Slide fall height runs from the transition platform, the flat deck at the top where a child sits down, to the surfacing. The zone in front of the exit never overlaps another zone, except a parallel slide.

• No bare metal chutes in the sun: shade them or use plastic or coated metal.
• Tube slides: at least 23 in. inside. Children inside cannot always be seen.
• Spiral slides for young children: one full turn or less.
• Embankment slides follow the ground, never more than 12 in. above it.
• No gaps where the chute meets the platform. Bumps up to 3 in. across stick up no more than 1/8 in.
• Children come down in many positions, not only sitting forward.

Other equipment

Beyond swings and slides, each other kind of equipment has its own rules.

Moving and upper-body equipment carries its own age limits and zones. Seesaws, sliding poles and track rides are for school-age children only.

Equipment sorter

Each kind of equipment has now come up. The sorter asks which age groups the handbook lists it for.

From CPSC Table 1, which is a list of examples, not a complete list.

Entrapment

Falls are not the only danger. Equipment parts leave openings, and some can trap a child.

Entrapment means a body part goes into an opening and cannot come back out.

Openings more than 3.5 in. and less than 9 in. can trap a head: wide enough for a small body, too narrow for a big head.

• If one dimension is in that range, test the whole opening.
• An opening low enough for a child’s feet to touch the ground can still strangle a trapped child. Openings where the ground itself forms one side are exempt.
• Bicycle helmets have caught children in spaces not normally a head trap: no helmets on equipment.

Probe test

Templates: small torso 3.5 by 6.2 in., large head 9 in. across, for preschool and school-age playgrounds. Cardboard or plywood works.

Angles

• Often where two parts meet, like the top of a slide and a guardrail.
• Nets: each opening’s perimeter under 17 in. or over 28 in. Flexible openings are tested by pushing the probes with up to 30 lb (toddler) or 50 lb.
• Overhead ladder rungs: more than 9 in. apart.

Platforms and guardrails

Raised platforms need edges that stop falls, without openings that trap a head.

Which one, if any, depends on the age group and the platform height.

• Surround every elevated platform. Any gap in the enclosure with no top rail across it: 15 in. wide at most, except entrances and exits.
• Barrier openings must stop the small torso template, the test shape for the smallest child at risk, from Entrapment.
• Vertical bars suit younger children: they can grab them at any height.
• Not required on climbing equipment or low layered platforms.

Height limits

• Climbers and platforms for toddlers, 6 to 23 months old: 32 in. at most.
• Platforms over 6 ft high get an intermediate standing surface on the way up, except free-standing slides.

Stepped platforms

Access

• Handrails both sides on stairs and step ladders, full length.
• Grip size: 0.95 to 1.55 in.; toddlers 0.60 to 1.20 in.
• Children climb up before they can climb down: give hard climbs an easy way back.

Layout

Each piece now has its own rules. A plan puts the pieces together.

A good plan keeps age groups apart, puts moving equipment at the edges and keeps every child in view of the benches.

• Spread out popular equipment to avoid crowding.
• Grade and drain so loose fill does not wash out.
• Contain loose fill at the edge. Make the containment wall easy to see.

Level 2 check

Which rules

The rules so far come from the CPSC handbook. This section shows what makes them binding in New York.

The CPSC handbook is guidance on its own. New York makes it binding. A state law tells the Department of State to write playground rules that closely follow the handbook. Those rules, Part 223, adopt the handbook by reference.

Does the law apply

• Penalty: up to $1,000 per violation, $10,000 if knowing and willful.
• The state rule names the 2003 edition of the CPSC handbook. The CPSC’s current edition is 2010.

New York City

Standards

The last link in that chain is the ASTM standards.

ASTM standards are more technical than the handbook, written mainly for equipment makers, architects and designers.

They are sold, not public. For ASTM, this page quotes only their public scope pages.

• F1487 is revised every 3 to 4 years.
• F1487 leaves accessibility to the 2010 ADA Standards.
• The handbook covers public equipment for ages 6 months to 12 years, not amusement parks or fitness equipment for older users.
• Development also overlaps around age 2, but the handbook does not reflect it.

Surfacing products and upkeep

Several of those standards cover surfacing. This section is about choosing it, laying it and keeping it deep enough.

• Toddler playgrounds: avoid loose fill.

Tested products

• Unitary surfacing: get the maker’s ASTM F1292 test data with the critical height. Some need a hard base and some do not. Some need professional installers.
• Engineered wood fiber (EWF): wood surfacing made for playgrounds, meeting ASTM F2075 and tested to F1292. Makers supply critical height, fill depth and toxicity data. EWF is still loose fill, so the 9 in. minimum and the settling apply.
• Carpet and mats only if tested to and meeting ASTM F1292.

Loose fill over pavement

CPSC staff strongly recommend against a playground over pavement unless all these layers are added. So the pavement is never bare under the equipment. Older playgrounds on hard surfaces should be fixed.

Geotextile is a filter fabric that lets water through and keeps soil and surfacing apart.

Keeping the depth

• Fill gets kicked away fastest under swings and at slide exits. Impact mats there help, set level with or below the surface.
• Mark the minimum fill level on posts, and rake displaced fill back.
• Drain well. Wet mulch packs down faster than dry.

Other hazards

Surfacing handles falls. Smaller parts of equipment bring other dangers.

Beyond falls and gaps, equipment can catch a cord, crush a finger, burn skin or trip a runner.

S-hooks

More hazards

Inspection

Hazards like these are what inspection looks for.

Inspecting is not enough: what is found gets fixed. Busy playgrounds need more frequent checks.

Routine check

Short version of CPSC Appendix A. Ticks stay on this device only.

Most loose fill that freezes solid no longer protects.

Level 3 check

Quiz

Flashcards

Questions

Glossary

Sources

Each Source tag opens a quote checked word for word against the source, with a link to it. CPSC table rows were copied from the page images, since the PDF text drops some digits.

Not found

• A public NYC Parks playground design or safety standard
• The text of ASTM F1487 and F1292 beyond their public scope pages
• Whether the Department of State has updated Part 223 past the 2003 handbook
• The 2010 ADA Standards’ play area sections, which are not saved here