WE ARE PARKS AND RECREATION It’s All About Play By Cicely Enright
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lay is children’s work, and playgrounds are their workplace — a place where they can learn and develop coordination, cooperation, imagination and more. In the ever-evolving marketplace, playground equipment is designed to encourage various activities, as well as to reflect a certain look. Alongside this evolution, the Consumer Safety Performance Specification for Playground Equipment for Public Use (F1487) has supported children’s safety at play for almost 30 years. A subcommittee in the consumer products committee (F15) oversees the F1487 playground standard and takes the approach of furthering safety without limiting design.
“Instead of focusing strictly on design criteria, we look at the hazards associated with each type of equipment,” says Lloyd Reese, vice president of technical product management at PlayCore. Reese works on the subcommittee on playground equipment for public use (F15.29) as well as the subcommittee on playground surfacing systems (F08.63), which oversees standards for surfaces around playgrounds. Now, a revision of the F1487 playground standard has been completed that references additional surfacing standards.
The Revision The F15.29 subcommittee numbers more than 250 stakeholders — manufacturers, playground organizations, labs, academia, government agencies and others — who completed the F1487 revision this past spring. Kenneth Kutska, executive director at the International Playground Safety Institute, LLC, and chair of F15.29, offers his expert insight. Of the new F1487, he says, “These revisions help clarify changes occurring internationally within the industry. Most significantly, this
version addresses performance requirements related to new equipment types introduced in the marketplace that are not covered in the existing standard.” Julie Boland, F15 member and NRPA vice president of membership and certification, adds, “All of these changes will help to provide today’s youth with accessible, safe and challenging play environments.” Kutska notes that the F1487 changes begin with the standard’s scope: “There was a basic change in the scope to clarify and alert the users of the standard that ‘clearance and use zone’ requirements related to the playground equipment and its relationship to the protective surfacing and three-dimensional space around the equipment is considered within the standard.” One newly expanded section of F1487 addresses both fixed and flexible track/trolley rides, which can have seats or a handlebar. The standard includes factors, such as speed and potential impact hazards, by addressing clearance and use zones throughout the path or travel of a suspended seat. “Getting these new requirements in this revision was important because it had gotten to the point where we were seeing many different types of these in the field,” Reese says. Kutska adds, “We also added a better explanation of what the manufacturer, designer and/or owner needs to do to verify that the playground equipment and its protective surfacing use zones comply with the minimum performance requirements of this standard.” According to the standard, the verification shall be in writing by The F1487 playground standard is about keeping children safe and engaged in play.
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