Playground info

Playgrounds are a great place for children to learn social and problem solving skills while they play, their safety is so important during these phases of life, and we now have lots of information about how to accomplish this that we didn't have years ago. During the 1960's and prior, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted crash tests, and many of us have seen the old black and white footage. The data collected was used not only for establishing better vehicle safety in the event of a collision, it also was the basis for creating playground safety standards in the 1980's. Once implemented, child fatalities from playground injuries were reduced by 55% almost overnight. 

So, it stands to reason that playground safety standards are a good thing, provided they are updated with revised and currently available data and other information, and unfortunately there exists well established evidence this is not the case. It's been well over twenty years since the NHTSA conducted new tests and released reports that significantly changed the automotive industry safety standards, yet the playground industry apparently chooses to ignore important relevant data and information that ought to demand revisions to existing safety standards. 

There are a wide variety of choices for playground equipment, typically designed for specific age ranges, based on the common relative abilities so they're age appropriate to minimize injuries. There are also a few playground safety surfacing options, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, and we cover this in our surface comparison page. 

So many benefits