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IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION SHEET
The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates there are more than 200,000 playground related
injuries involving children each year. Injuries involving this hazard pattern tend to be among the most
serious of all playground injuries and have the potential to be fatal, particularly when the injury is to the head.
The surface under and around playground equipment can be a major factor in determining the injury-causing
potential of a fall. It is self evident that a fall onto a shock absorbing surface is less likely to cause a serious
injury than a fall onto a hard surface. Playground equipment should never be placed on hard surfaces such
as concrete or asphalt and while grass may appear to be acceptable it may quickly turn to hard packed earth
in areas of high traffic. Shredded bark, mulch, wood chips, fine sand or fine gravel are considered to be
acceptable shock absorbing surface when installed and maintained at a sufficient depth under and around
playground equipment.
Table below lists the maximum height from which a child would not be expected to sustain a life-threatening
head injury in a fall onto four different loose-fill surfacing materials if they are installed and maintained at
depths of 6” (15.25CM), 9” (22.9CM), and 12” (30.5CM).
However,it should be recognized that all injuries due to falls cannot be prevented no matter what surfacing
material is used.
We recommend that a shock absorbing material should extend a minimum of 6ft in all directions from the
perimeter of stationary equipment such as climbers and slides. However, because children may
deliberately jump from a moving swing, the shock absorbing material should extend in the front and rear of a
swing a minimum distance of 2 times the height of the pivot point measured from a point directly beneath the
pivot on the supporting structure.
This information is intended to assist in comparing the relative shock-absorbing properties of various
materials. No particular material is recommended over another. However, each material is only effective
when Properly maintained. Materials should be checked periodically and replenished to maintain correct
depth as determined necessary for your equipment. The choice of a material depends on the type and
height of the playground equipment, the availability of the material in your area and its cost.
Note: The maximum fall height for this product is 6 feet. The minimum ground Clearance between the
bottom of the suspended plays and the playing or ground service must be 8 inches.
This information has been extracted from the CPSC publication on" Playground Safety". You can obtain
more information by sending a postcard to the: Office of public Affairs, U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission, Washington, D.C.20207
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