Play Equipment Manufacturers-New Era in Safety by Kelly Nickless

As Australia and the UK have increased their safety standards in recent years, more countries are following their lead and adopting higher standards for play equipment to help reduce playground accident rates.

Play equipment manufacturers such are rising to the challenge of designing and developing new, safer play equipment to meet these standards.

An example of play equipment manufacturers, rising to the challenge of designing new safer products, is the development of safety nets for trampolines.

Safety nets on trampolines have now become common place on many models and sizes of trampoline, as in the past the trampoline has been one of the most dangerous pieces of play equipment.

With the addition of safety nets and safety pads, as well as the use of trampolining accessories such as ladders and the weather covers, the trampoline has now become a relatively safe piece of play equipment and injury incidents have reduced dramatically.

Increasing safety in the playground or home play area is not just the job of play equipment manufacturers, as where the play equipment is installed and how it is installed are also key factors.

As the recent death of a 10 year old boy who fell from a horizontal track ride in Perth, Western Australia illustrates, having the correct impact attenuating surface in the fall zone is also a key requirement for a safe play area.

If a correctly installed soft play area and fall zone had been in place, combined with the use of corner safety pads, this little boy would more than likely be alive today.

Soft play areas and zones utilising the latest technology and products in harm minimisation are becoming more commonplace underneath and around play equipment and play areas.

With a quarter of all accidents reported around play equipment resulting from tripping or slipping, the surfacing of soft play zones and the deterioration of these surfaces needs to be constantly monitored and attended to.

With the use of new technology and materials, play equipment manufacturers are developing some fantastic new toys that are both safe and fun to use.

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