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Handbook for Playground Safety <br />Ground -bounded: Not subject to entrapment recommendations. <br />Low entrapment <br />111 <br />4. <br />'0) <br />400 <br />High entrapment <br />Figure B14. Examples of completely <br />bounded openings <br />B.2.5 Entrapment <br />B.2.5.1 General <br />Any completely -bounded opening (Figure B14) that is not <br />bounded by the ground may be a potential head entrapment <br />hazard. Even those openings which are low enough to permit <br />a child's feet to touch the ground present a risk of strangula- <br />tion to an entrapped child, because younger children may <br />not have the necessary intellectual ability and motor skills to <br />withdraw their heads, especially if scared or panicked. An <br />opening may present an entrapment hazard if the distance <br />between any interior opposing surfaces is greater than 3.5 <br />inches and less than 9 inches. If one dimension of an open- <br />ing is within this potentially hazardous range, all dimensions <br />of the opening should be considered together to fully evalu- <br />ate the possibility of entrapment. The most appropriate <br />method to determine whether an opening is hazardous is to <br />test it using the following fixtures, methods, and perfor- <br />mance criteria. <br />These recommendations apply to all playground equipment, <br />i.e., toddler, preschool -age, and school -age children. Fixed <br />equipment as well as moving equipment (in its stationary <br />position) should be tested for entrapment hazards. There are <br />two special cases for which separate procedures are given: <br />(1) completely -bounded openings where depth of penetra- <br />tion is a critical issue (see Figure B15) and (2) openings <br />formed by flexible climbing components. <br />Figure B15. Completely bounded opening with <br />limited depth <br />48 <br />