Susan D. Hudson

Developing a playground injury prevention plan

Playgrounds are a major source of unintentional injuries in the school environment. In fact, 80% of all injuries on public playground equipment happen at school. Thus, the need for developing a playground injury prevention plan is critical to provide safe educational outdoor environments for children. The S.A.F.E.™ framework for injury prevention is the first step in preventing playground injuries. This article highlights suggestions that school nurses can implement in creating an effective playground injury prevention program at their schools.

An Investigation of School Playground Safety Practices as Reported by School Nurses

The purpose of this study was to investigate school playground safety practices. The study used a purposeful sample of school nurses who attended a playground safety workshop at the 2006 National Association of School Nurses annual conference. Seventy-five questionnaires were distributed, and 64 useable questionnaires were returned. The responses indicated that little attention is being given to providing safe playground environments in schools as measured by best practices of supervision, age-appropriate design, fall surfacing, and equipment maintenance. Participants pointed to the need for better supervision and supervision training, careful selection of age-appropriate equipment, maintaining adequate fall surfaces under the equipment, and ensuring that equipment is properly maintained and repaired. The study also revealed that school nurses believe they could play a role in playground injury prevention through the collection and analysis of injury data, communication to administrators about the need for comprehensive planning of the play environment, and becoming active members of playground safety committees.

Play areas and the ADA: providing access and opportunities for all children.

A ll children deserve the right to play. But, for many children with disabilities, this right has been denied through the way play areas are designed. With the advent of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, the theoretical right ofchildren with disabilities to access play areas became a law.As with many legal mandates; however, it has taken more than mere passage of a law to ensure this right. In October 2000, the official recommendations ofthe United States Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) with regard to playgrounds were sent to the Justice Department. This article willdescribe those recommendations in relation to play areas, including playgrounds at elementary schools. It will discuss what these recommendations are, who needs to comply, and when compliance begins. In addition, this article will describe specific definitions and requirements found in the recommendations and how these definitions and requirements apply to public playgrounds. This information is intended for all HPER professionals who may be considering the development ofa new playground or updating existing playgrounds.

How SAFE are school and park playgrounds? A progress report.

Abstract A new national survey uncovers good news—safety has improved—and bad news—it still rates only a “C+.”

The impact attenuation performance of materials used under indoor playground equipment at child care centers

Each year, thousands of children receive emergency medical treatment for playground-related fall injuries. In the United States, over 64,000 of these playground injuries involve children under the age of 5, many occurring in child care centers. More specifically, playground injuries were estimated to annually involve 1.64% of children in a child care center, with playground fall-injury rates estimated at 0.25/100,000 child-hours in day care. Thus, selecting an appropriate surface material for use under and around playground equipment is a concern for many child care center professionals. Information concerning a range of acceptable surface materials (such as sand, wood chips, gravel, and rubber products) is readily available. However, the advent and popularity of portable playground equipment has complicated the issue of providing safe undersurfacing, especially when used indoors where loose-fill surfacing is not practical. This equipment is designed to meet public playground equipment standards (ASTM F1487 in the United States, for example), but because it does not require concrete footings, this equipment is often used indoors. We believe that outdoor testing standards and procedures (i.e., ASTM F1487 and ASTM F1292) are most applicable to this equipment even if it is used indoors. Child care center operators frequently ask whether rest mats, exercise mats, tumbling mats, and carpet provide adequate fall protection for the portable plastic equipment used indoors in their centers. It appears that the common practice is to place whatever mats are on hand around the equipment. Because data on the safety of this approach are unavailable, the National Program for Playground Safety, located at the University of Northern Iowa, investigated the impact attenuation of products commonly used by child care centers under and around indoor playground equipment. While certainly not exhaustive, the data in this report are intended to highlight a potential safety concern from this practice.

Strategies for Playground Injury Prevention: An Overview of a Playground Project

Abstract Preventing injuries to children, especially debilitating and life threatening, requires an awareness of where these types of injuries occur during the school days. This review examines falls from playground equipment, events that have been identified as the leading causes of nonfatal unintentional injuries for children. Thus, the issue of playground safety is a topic of concern for health educators. School health educators play an essential role in developing safe and healthy outdoor play environments for children. This paper highlights the importance of injury prevention awareness and outlines different strategies that health educators can take for preventing playground injuries. In addition, this paper examines a project that was conducted in the state of Iowa in relation to what effects playground surfacing materials and staff training may have on injury prevention on school playgrounds. The results of the project concluded that with the addition of proper surfacing material and staff training, playground injuries could be reduced. Health educators need to investigate the types of playground injuries in current programs and develop a strategy to keep children healthy and active.

Playground Safety: Using Research to Guide Community Policy

Abstract Each year over 200,000 children in the United States require emergency medical treatment for playground-related injuries, costing an estimated

Building Your Field of Dreams

1.2 billion. Thus, the issue of playground safety is a topic of concern for many health care professionals. However, without a reasonable understanding of the scope and magnitude of the problem, any attempts to develop an injury prevention program will be limited. Therefore, this article reviews the data-based playground research so that suggestions can be made concerning the development of a comprehensive playground injury prevention program.

An Analysis of Playground Surface Injuries

JOPERD • Volume 77 No. 1 • January 2006 Imagine being excited to go to work in a new

Online Professional Development: Choices for Early Childhood Educators.

3 million offi ce building. However, when you arrive at your place of business, you are appalled to fi nd only wooden chairs and tables scattered around in the offi ce space. There are phone jacks, but no telephones; computer hookups, but alas, no computers. In fact, no paper, pens, or other offi ce supplies are present. It seems the budget only made allowances for putting up the building. You and your fellow employees are told that if you want the other amenities you will need to hold bake sales, car washes, and other fundraising events to pay for them. Oh, and by the way, since you and your colleagues are there to work, forget about coffee breaks (recess) in the morning or afternoon. After all, the company isn’t going to pay for you and your friends to just “goof off” during company time. While this scenario may seem a little farfetched, let us look at a similar situation that I encountered not too long ago in the Southwest. I was asked to visit a new multimillion dollar elementary school. It had opened its doors a year earlier. While the indoor classrooms were well designed, the outdoor areas had been completely neglected. True, they did have fi elds and a hard asphalt court area, but that was it. This area was behind the school, with little linkage to the enclosed school proper. Because of the climate, the landscape areas nearest the school building contained pea gravel. Unfortunately the gravel spilled over to the asphalt court area and pathways, creating slippery surfaces. At the time of my visit, approximately 50 children—kindergarteners and fi rst graders—were Building Your Field of Dreams