Nursery World - Playground dangers are low, says report

The risk of injury to children in playgrounds and other play areas remains low in comparison to other risks they are exposed to in everyday life, the first Government report on the state of Britain's playgrounds in more than a decade concludes. The report, Playgrounds - Risks, Benefits and Choices, was commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive. Its author, Professor David Ball of Middlesex University's Centre for Decision Analysis and Risk Management, found the proportion of all childhood accident fatalities and injuries in UK playgrounds to be very small, with 14 fatalities -nine on school premises and the other five on public playgrounds - between 1986 and 1999. None of the school deaths were due to play equipment or the type of play usually associated with playgrounds, while three of the deaths in public playgrounds were due to falls from swings and the other two involved a splinter from a wooden slide runout which punctured an artery.

The report, Playgrounds - Risks, Benefits and Choices, was commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive. Its author, Professor David Ball of Middlesex University's Centre for Decision Analysis and Risk Management, found the proportion of all childhood accident fatalities and injuries in UK playgrounds to be very small, with 14 fatalities - nine on school premises and the other five on public playgrounds - between 1986 and 1999. None of the school deaths were due to play equipment or the type of play usually associated with playgrounds, while three of the deaths in public playgrounds were due to falls from swings and the other two involved a splinter from a wooden slide runout which punctured an artery.

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