Playground Safety Surfaces

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has long recognized the potential hazards that exist with the use of public playground equipment. A commissioned study of playground injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms indicated that the majority of serious injuries were the result of falls from equipment. These were primarily falls to the playground surface below the equipment rather than falls from one part of the equipment to another part.

As all playgrounds present safety challenges and as children can be expected to use equipment in unintended and unanticipated ways, the installation and maintenance of playground safety surfacing under and around all equipment is crucial.

The playground safety surfaces beneath and around playground equipment can be a major factor in determining the injury causing potential of a fall. A fall onto an impact absorbing playground safety surfaces is less likely to cause a serious injury than a fall onto a hard playground surfaces. Because head impact injuries from a fall have the potential for being life threatening, the more shock absorbency provided by playground safety surfaces, the greater the likelihood of reducing severe injuries.