your partner in safe play

Play it Safe

Do you remember sliding down your first slide?  Or the countless hours spent crossing the monkey bars?  Playgrounds are a compelling and fun attraction for children of all ages -- yet, each year, over 200,000 children are seriously injured on America's playgrounds, according to the Naional Program from Playground Safety (NPPS).  Moreover, 15 percent of these injuries were classified as severe, with 3 percent requiring emergency room attention.

As much as we love to build exciting new playgrounds for children, safety is foremost on our minds.

Education is the first step towards helping communities reduce injury statistics and make visits to the playground safer.  Important tips to be aware of when building or playing on a playground include:

• Due to the differing capabilities and needs of children, a play area should be provided for pre-schoolers, ages 2 - 5 as well as a separate play area for children ages 5 - 12.  Be sure children play on equipment designated for their age.
• It is vital to use surfacing around play structures.  Options include but not limited to pea gravel, engineered wood fiber, rubber, sand or rubber tiles.  It is best consult with a certified playground installer or your playground manufacturer to ensure all safety guidelines are followed.
• Be aware of openings on playgrounds -- they should measure less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches to prevent strangulation and trapping a child at play.
• Make sure debris and litter is cleaned up promptly to prevent a tripping hazard as well as a health issue.
• Look for saffety signs on plagyrounds that hlep inform parents and other supervisors which structures are appropriate for the age of the children in their care and remind then about adult supervision requirements.
• Always supervise children at play.  A majority of injuries occur on playgrounds because children are not being monitored by adults.
• Be on the lookout ofr broken parts, rust, protruding hardware, sharp edges or other areas of disrepair.
• Choose a cooler part of the day to play, if possible.  Be sure to apply sunscreen to protect children's delicate skin.
• Interact with children at play.  They take great pride in  showing adults what they can do.  And, this allows for better attention to safety.

To highlight our commitment to safety, we are only playground manufacturer to partner with the National Program for Playground Safety and provide a free Safe Playground Supervision Kit with each play system purchased.

"In addition to providing the highest quality and safest play equipment, we also want to provide our customers with the best tools to ensure a safe play environment.  The NPPS Safe Playground Supervision Kit is an outstanding tool and we are proud of our unrivaled partnership with NPPS, " says Tim Ahern, BCI Burke CEO and owner.