There are many rules and regulations governing playground safety, and as with any context in which there are rules, some rules will be violated by some of the people, some of the time. But which is the most often-violated playground safety regulation?
From my own field experience as a safety analyst, I'd say that the most common violation is the maintenance of the proper depth of resilient surfacing. That is, woodchips, wood mulch, rubber mulch, etc. There are supposed to be at least 6 inches of woodchips (or whatever other surfacing material is used) within a 6 foot radius of the equipment, and more if the equipment is above a certain height. I've rarely seen adherence to that, though, and this report by researchers at Monash University, Australia, confirms my suspicion: only 4.7% of the playgrounds they studied had the recommended depth of protective surfacing, given the equipment height. Fewer than 1 in 20!
Marc Miller, of Maryland Materials, offers another opinion: overlapping areas of play. Structures are not meant to be too close together - just picture kids trying to leap from swingset to monkeybars to spring toy. It's a safety nightmare. And, often, playgrounds do have structures that are a bit too close together, because of schools or day care centers wanting to squeeze in more equipment than the allotted area can safely support.
I'll do some reading on the subject, and post if I find anything particularly egregious. Until then, happy playing...
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