Make Certain Your Child's School Playground Equipment is Safe

Children will be heading back to school in just a couple of weeks. However for those schools that have playgrounds, do you know how safe those playgrounds really are? You, as a parent, have the right to look at and inspect the playground your child will be playing on. Here are just a few things you should look for. First make certain that the surfaces on the playground are covered with something soft such as wood chips, sand, mulch, or pea gravel. There should be at least twelve inches of one of these coverings on the surface. Or they can have mats made of approved rubber or rubber like material.

Second you always want to make sure the covering on the surface extends at least six feet beyond the play equipment. The covering should extend twice the height of the suspending bar and in the front and back for swing sets.

Third structures that are more than 30 inches in height should be spaced no less than nine feet apart.

Fourth always check for dangerous and exposed hardware. This could be something such as protruding ends of bolts or unsafe "S" hooks.

Fifth always check for any kind of sharp edges on any of the play equipment. All edges should have some sort of safety covering on them.

Sixth any type of elevated surface should have a guardrail around it to prevent falls.

Seventh make certain that there is nothing that can be tripped over. There should be no tree stumps, large rocks, or exposed concrete footings.

Eighth if there are any type of spaces between rails or other openings, they should be no more than 3.5 inches in width and no less than 9 inches in width.

Ninth playgrounds should be inspected regularly for any types of these and other hazards. The school really should keep a record of when and who inspected the playground equipment. Yes, you do have the right to ask the school to see these records to make sure for yourself that they are checking them on a regular basis.

Tenth make absolutely certain to ask the teacher how many adults will be on the playground when your child is out there. Most of the time the ratio for this is one adult per so many (usually 6 or 7) children. So if there are 20 children in the class there should be no less than two adults present while the children are on the playground.

Keeping your child safe at school is just about the most important things a parent can do. If there is anything you feel is unsafe about the playground, or the school in particular, tell the principal or even the superintendent's office so that something can be done to correct the problem.

Source:

www.wate.com (Channel 6 News-Knoxville Tennessee)