Playground Safety

Did You Know?

In Simcoe County and Muskoka District, falls were responsible for 43% of all unintentional injury related hospitalizations among children under 10 years of age. The playground is where half of those injuries took place.

Nationally, falls account for almost three quarters of all playground injuries. Most falls involve climbers, slides or swings.

Deaths have occurred due to strangulation when drawstrings; skipping ropes; scarves or loose clothing becomes entangled in the playground equipment or fences.

Supervise your children closely. Many playground injuries happen when children are not watched closely enough. Teach your children the rules of playground safety:

• Wait your turn
• No pushing, shoving or horseplay
• Slide down feet first
• Don’t go up the slide ladder until the other person has gone down the slide
• Hold on to railings
• Wait until play structures are dry, slippery surfaces can cause serious injuries
• Sit down on swings and slides
• Never jump from unsafe heights
• Keep away from moving swings and the bottom of slides
• Avoid wearing loose clothing including drawstrings and scarves on play equipment

Safe Kids Canada is a great resource. For more information on Playground Safety, click Playground Safety.

For more facts on playground safety click Kids are Unpredictable

For the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit fact sheet on Found Needles, click Found Needles.