Proper
Playground
Equipment Placement
The use zone for each piece of
equipment is made up of two parts:
- The Fall Zone: an area under
and around the equipment where protective surfacing is
required, and,
- The No-Encroachment Zone: an
additional area beyond the fall zone where children using
the equipment can be expected to move about and should
have no encroaching obstacles.
With the exception of spring
rocking equipment, equipment under 24 inches in height, and
the zone between adjacent swings (see below), the fall zones
of adjacent pieces of equipment should not overlap. However,
adjacent pieces of equipment may share a single
no-encroachment zone.
Regardless of the type of
equipment, the use zone should be free of obstacles that
children could run into or fall on top of and thus be injured.
For example, there should not be any vertical posts or other
objects protruding from the ground onto which a child may
fall.
Recommendations
for Fall Zone
Stationary Equipment
The fall zone should extend a
minimum of 6 feet in all directions from the perimeter of the
equipment.
Slides
The fall zone in front of the
access and to the sides of a slide shall extend a minimum of 6
feet from the perimeter of the equipment. Note: This does not
apply to embankment slides.
The fall zone in front of the
exit of a slide shall extend a minimum distance of 6 feet from
the end of the slide chute or for a distance of H + 4 feet
whichever is the greater. H is the height of the slide
platform and the H + 4 foot measurement is made from a point
on the slide chute where the gradient has been reduced to 5o
from the horizontal (see Figure 16).
Shaded
Area Denotes Fall Zone with Protective Surfacing
Figure
16 Fall Zone for Slides
Single Axis Swings
Because children may
deliberately attempt to exit from a single axis swing while it
is in motion, the fall zone in front of and behind the swing
should be greater than to the sides of such a swing. It is
recommended that the fall zone extend to the front and rear of
a single axis swing a minimum distance of 2 times the height
of the pivot point above the surfacing material measured from
a point directly beneath the pivot on the supporting structure
(see Figure 17). The fall zone to the sides of a single axis
swing should follow the general recommendation and extend a
minimum of 6 feet from the perimeter of the swing structure in
accordance with the general recommendation for fall zones.
This 6 foot zone may overlap that of an adjacent swing
structure.
Shaded
Area Denotes Fall Zone with Protective Surfacing
Figure
17 Fall Zone for Single Axis Swings
Multi Axis Swings
The fall zone should extend in
any direction from a point directly beneath the pivot point
for a minimum distance of 6 feet + the length of the
suspending members (see Figure 18). In addition, the fall zone
shall extend a minimum of 6 feet from the perimeter of the
supporting structure. This 6 foot zone may overlap that of an
adjacent swing structure.
Merry-Go-Rounds
The fall zone should extend 6
feet beyond the perimeter of the platform.
Spring Rocking Equipment
The fall zone should extend a
minimum of 6 feet from the "at rest" perimeter of
the equipment but adjacent spring rockers with a maximum seat
height of 24 inches may share the same fall zone.
Composite Equipment
The above recommendations for
individual pieces of equipment should be used as a guide in
establishing the fall zones around pieces of composite
playground equipment. Note that in Section 9.2.2 it was
recommended that single axis swings not be a part of a
composite structure.
Shaded
Area Denotes Fall Zone with Protective Surfacing
Figure
18 Fall Zone for Multi Axis Tire Swings
Recommendations
for No-Encroachment Zone
No specific dimensions can be
recommended for the no encroachment zone around individual
pieces of playground equipment. These dimensions will vary
according to the types of adjacent pieces of equipment and
their orientation with respect to one another.
For example, the recommended
fall zone at the side of both a slide and a swing is 6 feet.
Since fall zones should not overlap (with the exception of
certain adjacent spring rockers), a slide could be placed with
its side no closer than 12 feet to the side of a swing.
Therefore, there may be no need to add an additional
no-encroachment zone. Conversely, it would not be desirable to
have a slide exit facing the front or rear of single axis
swing.
No-encroachment zones extending
beyond the fall zones are recommended for moving equipment or
equipment from which the child is in motion as he or she
exits. This allows more space for children to regain their
balance upon exiting the equipment and also provides added
protection against other children running into a moving part.
For a single axis swing, it is
recommended that there be a barrier beyond the fall zone in
front of the swing if it is located in a playground facing
other pieces of equipment.
Information
Source:
This article is a excerpt
from the "Handbook for Public Playground Safety",
Pub. No. 325
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207.
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