Six Tips for Playground and Park Safety

The playground should be a place where kids can come to engage with their surroundings and have a fun time blowing off steam on equipment like slides, swings and seesaws. If the playground isn’t a safe space, however, it makes it a lot more difficult to prevent serious injuries or other mishaps from occurring. The following six tips will ensure that parks remain a fun and injury-free place for kids to visit!


1.    It is very important that all play structures more than 30 inches high are spaced at least nine feet apart. In order to ensure that no injuries occur due to incorrectly spaced equipment.


2.    Always check for sharp points or edges on the equipment that kids will be interacting with and running around on. Objects like hardware, s-shaped hooks, bolts and sharp or unfinished edges can stick out of equipment and severely cut children or get stuck in clothing. It’s also important to pay careful attention to swing seats so that you can make sure no sharp metal inserts have become exposed.


3.    Tripping hazards like exposed concrete footings, tree stumps, roots, and rocks can contribute to serious injuries on the playground. It’s important to make sure that the space is free of any of these major hazardous materials before children are allowed to visit.


4.    Always make sure that guardrails and other safe barriers are in place for elevated surfaces like platforms and ramps. This helps prevent any serious falls from occurring and generally makes the playground a safer place.


5.    When a playground has proper surfacing, this can do a great job of reducing the number of injuries that occur when kids trip or fall from equipment. It’s important that the surface under the playground equipment be soft and substantial enough to soften the impact if a child were to fall. Surfaces made of rubber tend to be safe and allow easier access for anyone using a wheelchair.


6.    Children should be carefully supervised on the playground at all times. When someone is there to look out for them, it prevents injuries from occurring and overall misuse of equipment. It’s also important to be in close proximity just in case an injury does happen to occur so that first aid can be administered immediately.  

Check out Discount Playground Supply, browse our wide selection of playground maintenance equipment and let us know if you have any other tips in the comments!