More than 70 percent of all playground injuries are related to falls. Most injuries involve a child falling onto a non-compliant playground surface. For that reason, it’s essential to use playground safety surfacing that meets the ASTM requirements for children’s play areas to help reduce the risk of playground hazards and injuries.
The infographic below explains the need for playground surfacing for your play and recreation areas. It also provides details about the different playground surface options and their benefits.
Choose the Right Playground Surfacing
As you can see, there are many options for playground safety surfacing.
Engineered Wood Fiber (EWF) is the most affordable, but it requires frequent “top-offs” to ensure an appropriate amount of surfacing to attenuate (cushion) falls. For community installations or projects on a budget, it’s the quickest, easiest, and least expensive surfacing option available that meets safety requirements.
Rubber playground surfaces such as poured-in-place rubber, recycled bonded rubber, or recycled rubber tile is a significant financial investment. It requires less maintenance than EWF and it can be customized witgh different colors, shapes, or logos.
If a natural look is important to you, consider Synthetic turf. It is also a low-maintenance option. It looks like natural grass, but there’s no watering or mowing required!
Any of these playground surfacing options will provide a compliant play space. The right playground surface for your project depends on many variables, such as your budget, how people will use the space, your capacity to maintain the surface, and whether there is a need for additional accessibility.
Give Your Playground a Strong Foundation
Playground surfacing is necessary to provide a compliant play experience. Proper playground helps to reduce the risk of injuries during play.
There are many different types of playground surfacing available, and the best playground surface will depend on your specific needs and budget. You can learn more about the various options in the free surfacing resource guide, Strong Foundations.
Have more questions about playground safety surfaces? Contact the GameTime play expert in your neighborhood.