Melrose Playgrounds: What Makes A Play Area Safe?

This is the second article in a three-part series. , focusing on Joan Bell, Superintendent of Mount Hood and Public Open Space, becoming a Certified Playground Safety Inspector. Today's article focuses on playground injuries—and how to prevent them. Part three will run on Thursday.

Bell's new CPSI certification is a win-win for the town, according to Donna Thompson, Executive Director of the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS), a non-profit organization based out of the University of Northern Iowa and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We really do want more people to certify playgrounds," Thompson said, explaining that having a certified inspector "who has an idea of what to look for" in terms of playground danger zones can prevent both child injuries and big lawsuits—a costly problem Thompson said other municipal areas have already found themselves facing.

The NPPS promotes the S.A.F.E. strategy: Supervision, Age-Appropriate, Fall Surfacing and Equipment Maintenance. Organizations like the NPPS and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) believe that such a specific, structured approach is needed to prevent the thousands of playground injuries that take place across the country each year.

In 2009, the CPSC reported that on average during 2001 to 2008, 218,851 preschool and elementary-school-age children suffered injuries while using playground equipment. Fifty-one percent of these injuries took place on public playgrounds, and 67% resulted from either falls or equipment failure.

At the state level, the numbers seem less dramatic, though still frightening for some parents. According to data collected by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2,973 children between the ages of 0 to 14 years suffered nonfatal falls from playground equipment in 2009. Children within the age range of five to nine years suffered the most falls resulting in hospital visits or stays (1,706), while children up to four years old and children between the ages of 10 and 14 fared better (785 and 482 stays or visits, respectively).

"In terms of the overall picture, recreational activities are important for the healthy development of young children. However, in Massachusetts each year, more than 2,500 children 14 and younger seek treatment in hospital emergency rooms from playground related injuries and many more seek care from family physicians," said Julia Hurley, Media Relations Manager for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

"Playground injuries can be prevented. Inadequate supervision may be a factor in 40 percent of playground injuries," Hurley continued. "In addition, all playgrounds should have an appropriate surface (hardwood mulch, pea gravel, sand or synthetic materials such as poured-in-place, rubber mats or tiles) since the majority of playground injuries occurs through falls."

The does not keep specific records on playground injuries. However, Bell said that she hears of very few reports of injuries resulting from equipment failure or falls on Melrose playgrounds.

"I've been here just about three years and we've had a couple of broken arms. Mostly on school playgrounds," Bell said. "At the regular parks, actually, we haven't had too many major injuries. Which, knock on wood, is a very good thing."

Melrose may also be ahead of the pack in terms of surfacing―an essential element of playground safety, according to most playground safety watchdog groups. Currently, mulch is the city's primary surfacing choice, a practice Bell said will continue. Bell also confirmed that all mulch (and other wood) on playgrounds is free of chromated copper arsenate, or CCA, a chemical that was the subject of some controversy in past decades because of its arsenic content.

Greg Antonelli, owner of GTA Landscaping, the outside contractor that mulches the city's playgrounds, said that he finds Melrose's remulching schedule a lot more stringent than those of many surrounding communities.

"They [the Melrose Park Department] do require mulch four to six inches in playgrounds," Antonelli said. "Melrose does it every year. Most communities aren't refilling every year."