Safety Surfacing Introduction

The protective playground surface is often the most overlooked element of backyard playground safety. While approximately 80% of public playgrounds have some form of shock-absorbing protective surfacing under playground equipment, only 9% of home backyard playgrounds do, according to a 2001 playground injury study conducted by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC). The study found that, of the approximately 50,000 injuries per year associated with home backyard playground equipment, 69% of the injuries were a result of falls to a non-protective surface below the equipment.

The most common backyard playground surface options are grass and dirt, but neither surface offers adequate protection against serious injury due to falls, even falls that occur from 30 inches or less above the ground. Fractures of the arms and hands, and lacerations and contusions of the head and face are the most commonly reported injuries that result from a child falling from playground equipment to a non-protective playground surface such as grass or dirt as reported by the CPSC.

The good news is that there are number of protective playground surface options for the backyard playground that will meet the need for playground safety. As you might expect, playground surface options range in cost from affordable to expensive, and each option has its own list advantages and disadvantages. Weighing the positive and negative qualities of each type of playground surface material, as presented in this article, should allow you to choose the most appropriate playground surface for your backyard playground.

Critical Height of Playground Equipment

The first and most vital piece of information to know when considering different options for your protective playground surface is critical height. Critical height refers to the