Section 2008 APPENDIX H Playground Surfacing & Critical Height

Section 407

TITLE 23: EDUCATION AND CULTURAL RESOURCES

SUBTITLE A: EDUCATION

CHAPTER XI: DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD

PART 2008 LICENSING STANDARDS FOR DAY CARE CENTERS

SECTION 2008. APPENDIX H PLAYGROUND SURFACING & CRITICAL HEIGHT

Section

2008. APPENDIX

H  Playground Surfacing & Critical Height

Partially exempt programs are

exempt from this standard.

Critical Height is a term used

to describe the shock absorbing performance of a surfacing material and is used

in this Part as an approximation of the maximum fall height from which a

life-threatening head injury would not be expected to occur.

The surfacing material used

under and around a particular piece of playground equipment should have a

Critical Height Value of at least the height of the highest accessible part of

the equipment.

Acceptable surfacing materials

are available in two basic types, unitary or loose-fill.

Unitary materials are generally

rubber mats or a combination of rubberlike materials held in place by a binder

that may be poured in place at the playground site.  Persons wishing to install

a unitary material as a playground surface should request test data from the

manufacturer that should identify the Critical Height of the desired material.

Site requirements should also be obtained from the manufacturer because some

unitary materials require installation over a hard surface, while for others

this is not required.

Loose-fill materials can also

have acceptable shock absorbing properties. These materials include, but are

not confined to, sand, gravel and shredded wool products.  Loose-fill materials

should not be installed over hard surfaces such as asphalt or concrete.

Many vendors are unlikely to

have information on the shock absorbing performance of loose-fill materials.

For that reason the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has conducted tests

to determine the relative shock absorbing properties of some loose-fill

materials commonly used as surfaces under and around playground equipment

ot be installed over hard surfaces such as asphalt or concrete.

Many vendors are unlikely to

have information on the shock absorbing performance of loose-fill materials.

For that reason the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has conducted tests

to determine the relative shock absorbing properties of some loose-fill

materials commonly used as surfaces under and around playground equipment.  The

table below identifies the Critical Heights of these materials when tested at

various depths.

Critical Height of

Tested Materials

Material

6 inch uncompressed depth

9 inch uncompressed depth

12 inch uncompressed depth

9 inch compressed depth

Wood Mulch

7 feet

10 feet

11 feet

10 feet

Double Shredded Bark Mulch

6 feet

10 feet

11 feet

7 feet

Uniform Wood Chips

6 feet

7 feet

12 feet

6 feet

Fine Sand

5 feet

5 feet

9 feet

5 feet

Course Sand

5 feet

5 feet

6 feet

4 feet

Fine Gravel

6 feet

7 feet

10 feet

6 feet

Medium Gravel

5 feet

5 feet

6 feet

5 feet

The above

material was reproduced with permission from the Handbook for Public Playground

Safety by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.