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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
Summary of Contents for MSC-4146
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