PLAYGROUND LAW

In the U.S. there is no national playground safety law. The Consumer Product Safety Commission Handbook for Public Playground Safety is considered a federal guideline. The American Society of Testing Materials Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification for Playground Equipment for Public Use (F 1487-05) is considered a national, private company, standard. Together these make up what is generally considered the minimum standard of care for playground safety. Scott Burton is a CPSI and Expert Witness and is credited with following quote;

“It matters little in this litigious world whether a standard is mandatory, a guide, a law or designated by any other term. It is considered the “standard of care,” and allowed to be admitted into a lawsuit as evidence.”

Currently there are 17 states with playground laws. California is the strictest requiring inspections. No other state requires inspections or audits. New Jersey requires written verification of compliance with the CPSC handbook. I don’t know how else to meet that obligation than with a professional inspection or audit.

Regardless of the law in your state the minimum standard of care obligates you to be in compliance with the CPSC Handbook and ASTM F 1487-05. Of special interest is the fact that the the most current version of the CPSC Handbook does have specific requirements for inspections. Section 2.6 Paragraph 2 states;

“After assembly and before its first use, equipment should be thoroughly inspected by a person qualified to inspect playgrounds for safety"

This is generally considered to be a compliance audit and is consistent with the National Playground Safety Institute A.I.M. policy - Audit, Inspection, Maintenance.

Audits are onetime events that should be performed on every public playground. By having your playground audited you gain 2 benefits. You get a layer of legal defense and you gain financial leverage in the event of an installation problem.

State Law

The following is a link to a summary of state playground laws. The website is the National Program for Playground Safety; http://www.playgroundsafety.org/standards/state.htm.


Minimum Standard of Care

This link is to an excellent article discussing the minimum standard of care;
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1145/is_/ai_74337042.