School playground equipment Safety Checklist:
(click here
for a printable PDF of the checklist)
The following are potential safety hazards for play ground equipment and swing sets that should be checked to see if any of them have occurred in or near your school playground equipment:
- Visible cracks, bending, warping, rusting, or breakage of any school play ground equipment component.
- Deformation of any swing set parts such as open hooks, shackles, rings, links etc.
- Worn hangers and chains on any of your swing sets.
- Missing, damaged, or loose swing seats or swing set parts; heavy seats with sharp edges or corners.
- Footings exposed, cracked, or loose in ground.
- Broken support/anchors.
- Protruding bolt ends that do not have smooth finished caps and covers.
- Accessible sharp edges or points on your school playground equipment.
- Broken or missing rails, steps, rungs, or seats.
- Chipped or peeling paint on any swing sets or play ground equipment.
- Exposed ends of tubing that should be covered by plugs or caps.
- Surfacing material worn or scattered (in landing pits, etc.)
- Vandalism (broken glass, trash, etc.)
- Worn bearings or other parts, especially under swing sets, slides, etc.
- Pinch or crush point (exposed mechanisms, junctures of moving components, e.g.)
- Splintered, cracked, or deteriorated wood.
- On hard surfaces, loose bolts, nuts, etc.
- Poor drainage areas around play ground equipment.
- Tripping hazards such as roots, rocks, or other environmental obstacles.
- Lack of lubrication on moving parts.
NOTE: Use only commercial playground parts for commercial and school playground equipment – not residential.
Articles on Safety:
School Administrators should carefully consider the benefits of outdoor play before eliminating recess from their curriculum. (click
here for article) --National Association
for the Education of Young Children
Links
The National SAFE KIDS Campaign,
an organization committed to preventing unintentional injury
to children across the globe. See a recent
article they have provided.
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