Planning to build a play area for your kids, or a new playground in your neighborhood?

Here’s info about the single best way to reduce the chance of injury to your child - and it’s NOT the playground equipment!


We Know: The Single Best Playground Safety Tip

Most playground injuries don’t occur when kids are on the equipment, but when they hit the ground.


Installing a SAFE PLAY SURFACE is one of the single best ways to PREVENT CHILD INJURY.

Who Says So?

The U.S. Product Consumer Product Safety Commission says, "Most (playground) injuries occur when a child falls from the equipment onto the ground. Most injuries involve the head and/or face (37%) and arm and/or hand (37%)."

What Doesn’t Work?

Dirt, grass, bricks, asphalt and thinly-laid wood chips over concrete don’t protect children, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

What Do the Experts Recommend?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says:

  • Install and maintain at least 9 inches of wood chips, mulch, or shredded rubber for play equipment that reaches up to 7 feet high. If you use sand or pea gravel, you'll want at least 9 inches for play structures up to 5 feet high. Or, you can use surface mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials.
  • Install protective surfacing at least 6 feet in all directions from play equipment. For swings, the surface should extend, in back and front, twice the height of the suspending bar.

We suggest you think RECYCLED RUBBER to Help the Environment.

An increasing number of companies, such as Diamond Safety and Safe Guard Surfacing, are manufacturing products from recycled rubber tires. Approximately 250 million tires are scrapped each year in the United States and many states support the use of recycled tires. Products made from recycled tires include: playground surfaces, rubber mulch, rubber patio tiles and rubber sidewalks.


Some of the advantages of rubber surfaces for play areas, patios and sidewalks include the following:

  • rubber surfaces do not crack or buckle
  • rubber surfaces are more resilient and cause fewer injuries
  • rubber surfaces require little maintenance


Examples of some of the colors available in recycled rubber mulch.



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