Hard Facts—Soft Landings (NAPSA)—Protecting children from backyard playground accidents—a leading cause of injuries to children—can be easier than many parents realize. In 1999, j2a } more than 200,000 children suf- fered playground-equipment injuries, including about 47,000 on homeplaygrounds. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has determined that shredded rubber surfaces, like GroundScape”™ Kids, outperform all other playground surface materials. To protect your youngsters, experts suggest six steps: 1. Carefully supervise children on playgrounds to make sure they’re safe. 2. Make sure play structures more than 30 inches high are spaced at least nine feet apart. 3. Check for dangerous hardware, such as open “S” hooks or protruding bolt ends. 4. Make sure spaces that could trap children, such as openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs, measure less than 3.5 inches or more than nineinches. 5. Check for sharp points or edges in equipment. 6. Make sure surfaces around playground equipment are covered with a clean, shredded recycled rubber playground safety sur- rare Fd) es 7 =e Backyard playground equip- ment injuries can be reducedif you use a Safe surface. face that’s impact-absorbent to protect children from injury. You can get attractively colored ground coverthat: Never loses its effectiveness as a safety surface * Is non-toxic Is practically maintenancefree—level periodically with a rake Is available in a variety of fun colors that won’t rub off on shoes, hands, clothes Lasts for decades—no need for annual replacement. To learn more online about GroundScape” Kids safety surfacing ground cover go to www.groundscape.com.
