Background | Survey Findings | Focus: New York’s Most Potentially Hazardous Playgrounds | Survey Results
Litter in the Playgrounds | Focus: Are New York’s Playgrounds Getting Safer? | Recommendations and Conclusions
Upstate Playground Table (pdf) | New York City and Long Island Playground Table (pdf)

Survey Findings
In March and April 2006 a team of field study participants surveyed 148 playgrounds in New York. The playgrounds surveyed included playgrounds located in all five boroughs of New York City, Long Island, Westchester and the Hudson Valley region, the Capital district, and Central and Western New York. The purpose of the survey was to identify eight potential playground hazards including fall-related hazards such as (1) unsafe surfacing, (2) inadequate fall zones and (3) unsafe equipment height. Surveyors looked for (4) potential toxic playground risks that could be posed by peeling paint or wood that is not red wood or cedar. Surveyors also identified (5) collision hazards posed by swings that are too close together, have seats made of hard or rigid material, etc. Moreover, surveyors looked for potential strangulation hazards including (6) head entrapment (openings between 3.5 and 9 inches) and (7) clothing entanglement hazards (open "S" hooks and gaps and protrusions). Last, the field study participants looked for (8) broken glass on the playgrounds they surveyed. The survey form also included space for comments and notes regarding other potential hazards the field study participants identified while conducting this playground safety survey.

All the survey results, notes and comments were then entered into survey result grids, which are separated into Upstate and New York City/Long Island.

The Hazard Score
After the surveys were completed and the types of hazards were entered as survey data, the playgrounds were given a "hazard score." The hazard score, based on a scale of 1-8, was given based on how many of the eight hazards a playground contained. In some cases, surveyors looked for several different hazards within the eight categories. For instance, there are numerous different types of swing hazards. The hazard score does not reflect these "sub-hazards," but they are described in the next section.

This year, the field study participants identified at least one hazard on 93% (137/148) of the playgrounds surveyed. A total of 432 potential hazards were identified on the playgrounds included in the 2006 survey. The average hazard score for the playgrounds that contained hazards was 3.15.

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