Report: Backyard playgrounds deadlier than public sites

The CPSC is launching an educational campaign with KaBOOM!, a nonprofit organization, to promote safer playground use

By Julie Vallese
CNN Consumer Safety Editor

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More children in the United States have died on backyard playgrounds than on public playgrounds during the past 10 years, according to a new government report released Thursday.

Out of 147 children under age 15 who died on playgrounds, at least 90 deaths occurred on backyard playgrounds, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported.

Based on figures reported to the agency from November 1990 to August 2000, the report noted that unintentional hangings accounted for the majority of the deaths -- 66 fatalities in which children playing in back yards became entangled in ropes, cords or homemade rope swings. The other deaths resulted from tipped-over or collapsed equipment and falls from the equipment.

VIDEO Tour a home playground with CPSC Chairman Ann Brown to see safe equipment and dangers (August 2) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Eileen O'Connor has more on how product safety has helped prevent accidental deaths (August 2) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES Senate committee rejects Bush's CPSC pick     RESOURCES On the Scene: Julie Vallese on high-profile recalls   CPSC: Press release   CPSC: Public Playground Safety Checklist

The report also found that serious head or face injuries occurred in almost half of playground injuries to children under 5. Those are the most common types of injuries seen in emergency rooms.

"We want children to be out on the playground where they belong, not inside the emergency hospital room," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown at a Thursday news conference. "CPSC is taking steps to reduce the hazards of home playgrounds by working with industry to recall defective play sets and strengthen playground safety standards."

"We see quite a number of injuries from playgrounds, home and school and public alike," said Dr. Karen Kingry, head of pediatrics at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. "We mostly see head injuries because heads are heavier. We also see upper extremity injuries because children put their hands out to break a fall."

Backyard playgrounds rarely have the proper protective surface to help reduce serious injury. Only 9 percent of home playgrounds have the recommended surface, which the CPSC describes a soft protective surface such as mulch, which should extend twice as far as the playground is high. Most home playgrounds are dirt and grass, the council reported.

The same was true of public playgrounds, where at least half of all deaths were the result of hangings. Other causes of death included falls, entrapment, impact with moving parts of the play set and equipment tip-overs.

In 1999, there were more than 200,000 playground-related injuries and almost 47,000 occurred on backyard playgrounds, the report said.

CPSC Chairman Ann Brown: "We are not seeking a totally safe world, but we are doing what we can to prevent those really serious injuries."

The majority of injuries stemmed from falls -- 69 percent from the surface below, 10 percent from falling on parts of the equipment, and 2 percent falls to an unknown surface. Most often a fall occurred when a child intentionally jumped off the play set or jumped from a swing. Other instances involved slipping or tripping, bumping or pushing by another child or reaching and missing equipment, the report said.

The most common injury to children are fractures to the wrist, arm and elbow. Fractures account for almost 40 percent of all injuries. Other injuries include cuts, bruises and sprains.

The CPSC, an independent federal regulatory agency, is launching an educational campaign with KaBOOM!, a nonprofit organization, to promote safer playground use.

The campaign, keyed to the council report's release, focuses on educating parents on the proper material and installation of surface materials, eliminating unsafe ropes and covering and maintaining parts such as bolts, screws and metal surfaces of a playground.

"What we are trying to do is anticipate the most serious injuries," said Brown. "You know there are going to be cuts and scrapes and bruises, those are badges of honor in childhood. We are not seeking a totally safe world, but we are doing what we can to prevent those really serious injuries."

Most often a fall occurred when a child intentionally jumped off the play set or jumped from a swing.

The campaign recommends:

-- Install and maintain at least 9 inches of protective surfacing which includes wood chips, mulch, shredded rubber, sand or pea gravel and it should be at least 6 feet in all directions around the play equipment.

-- For swings, the protective surfacing should extend in back and front, twice the height of the suspending bar.

-- Never attach ropes, jump ropes, clotheslines, or pet leashes to the equipment.

-- Smooth sharp points or edges and cover "s" hooks or protruding bolts.

-- Check for openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs that measure between 3 1/2 inches and 9 inches.

-- Always supervise young children.