Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 06/10/2021

Home

Handbook for Playground Safety 3. PLAYGROUND HAZARDS This section provides a broad overview of general hazards that should be avoided on playgrounds. It is intended to raise awareness of the risks posed by each of these hazards. Many of these hazards have technical specifications and tests for compliance with ASTM F1487 and F2373. Some of these tests are also detailed in Appendix B. 3.1 Crush and Shearing Points Anything that could crush or shear limbs should not be accessible to children on a playground. Crush and shear points can be caused by parts moving relative to each other or to a fixed part during a normal use cycle, such as a seesaw. To determine if there is a possible crush or shear point, consider: • The likelihood a child could get a body part inside the point, and • The closing force around the point. Potential crush/shear hazards specific to certain pieces of equipment are identified in §5.3 Major Types of Playground Equipment. 3.2 Entanglement and Impalement Projections on playground equipment should not be able to entangle children's clothing nor should they be large enough to impale. To avoid this risk: • The diameter of a projection should not increase in the direction away from the surrounding surface toward the exposed end (see Figure 2). • Bolts should not expose more than two threads beyond the end of the nut (see Figure 3). • All hooks, such as S-hooks and C-hooks, should be closed (see also §5.3.8.1). A hook is considered closed if there is no gap or space greater than 0.04 inches, about the thick- ness of a dime. — Any connecting device containing an in -fill that com- pletely fills the interior space preventing entry of cloth- ing items into the interior of the device is exempt from this requirement. • Swings and slides have additional recommendations for projections detailed in §5.3. • See Appendix B for testing recommendations. 3.2.1 Strings and ropes Drawstrings on the hoods of jackets, sweatshirts, and other upper body clothing can become entangled in playground equipment, and can cause death by strangulation. To avoid this risk: • Children should not wear jewelry, jackets or sweatshirts with drawstring hoods, mittens connected by strings through the arms, or other upper body clothing with drawstrings. • Remove any ropes, dog leashes, or similar objects that have been attached to playground equipment. Children can become entangled in them and strangle to death. Diameter has increased Figure 2. Example of a hazardous protrusion that increases in diameter from plane of initial surface and forms an entanglement hazard and may also be an impalement hazard. Figure 3. Example of a hazardous protrusion that extends more than 2 threads beyond the nut and forms an impalement/laceration hazard and may also be an entanglement hazard. 13