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Playground Accidents

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Each year, over 200,000 people are treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms for
injuries associated with playground equipment, with the majority of these injuries
involving children under the age of 15 years. According to the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC),  deaths and serious injuries resulted from falls, hangings, impact with moving equipment, entrapment and contact with protrusions, pinch points, sharp edges and sharp points.

Summary of statistics take from the April 2002 Special Study: INJURIES AND DEATHS ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT

• In 1999, an estimated 205,850 playground equipment-related injuries were treated in
  U.S. hospital emergency rooms. This adjusted estimate translates to a rate of about
  7.5 injuries per 10,000 U.S. population in 1999. Age-specific incidence was about
  29.1 injuries per 10,000 children younger than 5 years, 34.8 per 10,000 children 5–14
  years, and 0.6 per 10,000 population 15 years and older.
• Approximately 156,040 (75.8 percent) of the 1999 injuries occurred on equipment
  designed for public use, 46,930 (22.8 percent) occurred on equipment designed for
  home use, and 2,880 (1.4 percent) occurred on homemade equipment (primarily rope)
• About 45 percent of the injuries involving public equipment occurred in schools,
  followed by about 31 percent in public parks. Injuries on public equipment also
  occurred in commercial daycare settings (10 percent), apartment complexes
  (3 percent), fast food restaurants (2 percent), and other locations (9 percent). About
  three percent of the injuries involving home equipment occurred in home daycare.
• Overall, fractures were the most commonly reported injury, accounting for 39 percent
  of all injuries on home and public equipment. Almost 80 percent of these fractures
  involved the wrist, lower arm, and elbow. About 15 percent of the injuries to the
  head and face were diagnosed as concussions, internal injuries, and fractures; these
  injuries accounted for about 5 percent of all surface fall-related injuries in this study.
• About one-half (53 percent) of the injuries involving public equipment occurred on
  climbers. About 60 percent of the injuries on climbers occurred on various
  configurations of overhead "horizontal ladders." About two-thirds (67 percent) of the
  injuries involving home equipment occurred on swings.
• Over 40 percent of the injuries that occurred on public equipment and 30 percent of
  the injuries that occurred on home equipment involved multi-use structures. For both
  home and public equipment, however, the multi-use aspects of the equipment (e.g.,
  overlapping use zones, multiple users, etc.) didn't appear to be causal factors in the
• Overall, about three-fourths (79 percent) of the injuries that occurred on public
  equipment involved falls, primarily to the surface below the equipment. On home
  equipment, 81 percent of the injuries were associated with falls. All of the
  hospitalized injuries (3 percent of the total) resulted from falls.
• In locations where public equipment was installed, almost 80 percent had protective
  surfacing under the equipment, most often bark mulch or wood chips. In contrast,
  only about nine percent of home locations had protective surfacing, most often sand.
  Dirt and grass were, by far, the most prevalent surfaces present under home
  playground equipment.
• From January 1990 through August 2000, CPSC received reports of 147 deaths to
  children younger than age 15 that involved playground equipment. In the 128
  incidents for which location was reported, 90 (70 percent) occurred in home locations
  and 38 (30 percent) occurred in public locations.
• Over one-half (56 percent) of the playground equipment-related deaths involved
  hanging, primarily from ropes, shoestrings, cords, leashes, clothing strings, and other
  items tied to, or entangled on the equipment. Homemade rope, tire, or tree swings
  were also involved in a number of hanging deaths. Other causes of playground
  equipment-related deaths included falls, equipment tipover or collapse, entrapment, or
  impact with moving components.
• Comparison of data from the current study to data from a 1988 CPSC study of
  playground hazards revealed that falls continue to account for the majority of injuries.
  Injuries associated with public equipment continue to outnumber those on home
  equipment, and injuries in school settings now appear to be greater than in public
  parks. Climber-related injuries have increased in public locations, perhaps because of
  the greater number of multi-use climbing structures. Deaths from swing impact are
  now rare.
• Future safety efforts to address playground hazards should include activities to
  continue to promote the importance of appropriate protective surfacing in both home
  and public locations; to evaluate various protective surfaces in terms of reducing
  fractures to the wrist, lower arm, and elbow; to research the appropriateness of certain
  upper body equipment (e.g., horizontal ladders) for different age groups and skill
  levels; and to alert caregivers and children to the risk of attaching ropes, cords, and
  similar items to playground equipment.