What's Your Sign?

Playground Safety Signs

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Scott Burton, President
Safety Play, Inc.

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Playground Safety Signs Are Important

"Failure to warn" has become a hot topic. It is the basis of many lawsuits, and sometimes may prevent many injuries on the playground. Yet many owner/operators fail to understand the importance of placing warning signs on their playgrounds.

I've heard it all. "They don't read the signs", and "If they read it, they won't follow the rules anyway so why bother?". Well, the lawyers read them, for one thing. Adults and kids actually do read them. If they elect not to abide by those warnings, then that is another issue.

Some other facts are that signs will serve as a constant reminder of what to do or not do to reduce the risk of serious injuries. Also, signs can sometimes reduce insurance premiums for owner/operators as well. So, signs are a good idea to have.

Many things make up a proper sign. Was the sign legible? Was it positioned properly? Did it have the correct letter size, graphics, etc.? Were there too many warnings? Having signs that are technically incorrect can cause more harm than good. But not putting one up can provide a plaintiff's attorney with a field day. Most importantly, someone could get hurt.

What To Look For In Signs

According to the ASTM standards, the warning signs that must be on ALL playground equipment are;

1) The name of the manufacturer, and/or designer.
2) A Warning sign that says; "WARNING: Installation over a hard surface such as concrete, asphalt, or packed earth may result in serious injury or death from falls." Notice that it covers "packed earth". That means that grass is not enough to protect your kids from injury or death, which addresses that popular fallacy.

In addition, you should look for signs that warn or instruct about the safe ways to use the equipment. Many proper behaviors were covered in the last article on behavior. But you need to be aware of what they are.

Signs should also warn of the improper behaviors. Now, some folks feel that if you warn a child on how NOT to play, they will mimic that behavior. The fact is, they will come up with the wrong behaviors all by themselves.

Signs should show when NOT to use the equipment (when wet, roped off, damaged, etc.).

So, if you want your children to stay safe on the playground, check out the playground first. If you don't see these signs at your local public use playgrounds (park, school, community, day cares, etc.), bring it up to the person in charge. Hopefully they will be as concerned as you are and get them installed so the children remain injury free!

Credits

Scott Burton is the President of Safety Play, Inc., and is a CERTIFIED PLAYGROUND SAFETY INSPECTOR (CPSI). He has designed, manufactured, audited and inspected thousands of different types of areas and equipment. He was a former owner of a Florida company which was responsible for planning, design, writing specifications, purchasing, manufacturing & installation supervision, determining surfacing specifications, and providing worldwide sales of playground equipment.

He is currently involved with the creation of the International Playground Standards, and is a feature author for KidSource OnLine. He can be contacted via:

Scott Burton, President
Safety Play, Inc.
Specialists in Recreational Safety
http://www.mindspring.com/~safetyplay
#295 - 10460 Roosevelt Blvd.
St. Petersburg, Fl., U.S., 33716
(727)-522-0061 (Phone & Fax)