It's an unfortunate statistic that falls from climbing equipment are the biggest cause of head injuries on public playgrounds, with many newer play areas no longer containing any of the prior popular forms of climbing apparatus, due to the liabilities presented for the parties responsible for the playground. In many cases this rests on the shoulders of persons with good intentions, while lacking the necessary knowledge and experience to be properly effective without outside assistance. Other types of climbing and other equipment have been banned and are no longer considered safe on public playgrounds.

Because 79% of all 550 to 600+ daily child playground injuries that end up in an emergency room in the US are due to falls, the maximum fall height and related head injury criteria (HIC) scores under ASTM F1292 become a critical tool for assessing how safe your surfacing is and how it compares to others. Whay is often overlooked is the importance regarding whether or not your playground can meet the real maximum thresholds of 390 HIC, 570 HIC or 700 HIC, where traumatic brain injury (TBI) or death is likely to occur (ages under 4, ages 4 to 5, and ages 6 through adult, respectively).

Making the time to located, examine, understand and weigh when making an educated decision that can have lasting effects on the current and future safety of children is and ought to be the most important factor in creating a playground, where it hopefully will be easier to control costs for maintenance while providing the highest level of safety possible. US Rubber Mulch is willing to do its part by providing lots of important information to be considered. If you should have any questions or require assistance, please feel free to contact us.