In fact, it is estimated that 90 per cent of playground injuries are avoidable. Amy Zierler, an injury information specialist at Safe Kids Canada, said the overriding problem is environmental and a little common sense can go a long way toward correcting the shortcomings of parks. Next month, Safe Kids Canada is launching a national campaign to promote playground safety. Ms. Zierler said safety advocates are often painted as people who want to rein in children and prevent them from having fun, but the opposite is true. What we need to get through to parents is that safety and fun are not mutually exclusive.
More children die in traffic accidents on their way to the park than in parks themselves.
Yet injury is a daily reality in playgrounds. The most common hazard is hard surfaces, Ms. Zierler said, and that can be easily remedied with a few truckloads of sand. Standards were not designed to be retroactive, but, again, common sense is a good guide, she added. Fixing playgrounds is cost-effective. If you save even one hospitalization, that will pay for the cost of resurfacing.