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 Vol. 14 No. 2, August 2005
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AAP Grand Rounds 14:18-19 (2005)
© 2005 American Academy of Pediatrics

EPIDEMIOLOGY

Implementing Safety Standards for Playground Equipment Reduces Injury Rates

Source: Howard AW, MacArthur C, Willan A, et al. The effect of safer play equipment on playground injury rates among school children. CMAJ. 2005;172:1443–1446.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

The effect of playground equipment safety standards and guidelines on injury rates has not been evaluated. Investigators from the Hospital for Sick Children, York University and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, Ontario, Canada studied injury rates in Toronto elementary schools before and after replacement of substandard playground equipment. The Toronto District School Board and an independent consultant assessed the compliance of playground equipment in all 398 district elementary schools with safety standards established by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).1 They identified 136 schools with equipment that posed a severe safety hazard and required replacement. All unsafe equipment was removed and, in 86 schools, replacement with safer equipment was completed prior to the study. These 86 schools comprised the intervention group. Schools with equipment . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Michael B. Aldous, MD, MPH, FAAP
Pediatrics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ