Injury Prevention Topics of Interest
Playground Safety

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that 205,860 children receive emergency department care for injuries that occurred on playground equipment. Seventy-six percent of these injuries happen on playground equipment in schools, daycare facilities and parks. Twenty-three percent of injuries occur on playground equipment designed for home use. One percent of injuries happen on homemade playground equipment, primarily rope swings.

The majority of these injuries involve equipment at schools (45%) and public parks (31%). Injuries also occur on playgrounds at daycare centers, apartment complexes, and fast food restaurants.

The documents below provide basic information on Playground Safety and Injury Prevention.

Parent's Safety Checklist

• Playground Injury Prevention Checklist (PDF)

Safety Presentation

• Playground Safety Presentation (View Online)
• Playground Safety Presentation (download PowerPoint file)

Brochures

• Little Hands Playground Safety Brochure (w/ Parent's Checklist) (PDF, 2 MB)
• Little Hands Playground Safety Checklist (PDF, 1 MB)

Research Papers

• Playground Injuries Introduction (PDF)
• Playground Injuries Introduction (MS Word)

Links of Interest

• Playground Safety Links (PDF)
• Playground Safety Links (MS Word)

Video Resources

Playground Safety Video

Did you know?

Bike helmets have proven to be the single most effective safety device in reducing head injury and death in bicycling crashes. Helmets reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent.

During the past decade, more than 200 children died annually due to injuries sustained on ATVs.

Head injuries incurred while riding a bike result in two-thirds of hospital admissions and more than 60 percent of the bicycling deaths.