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Avoid injuries, play safe
""ALWAYS USE A HAIAH RUBBER FLOOR ..."
Never place benches, vases or lamp posts inside the playground area or courtyard. These should be placed on the outside. Children like to run and play catch. Do not create corners, edges or cement flower beds to delimit the area. Avoid using toys that will take up the whole area. Ideally 70% of the area should be free. When building your playground or courtyard, talk to us. We have an architect specialized in children´s spaces to help with the project.
EDITED NORMS, SAFER PLAYGROUNDS
For the first time in Brazil, ABNT (Brazilian Association For Technical Norms) and ABRINQ edited norms for playgrounds so as to guarantee children´s safety in condominiums, hotels, schools and clubs.
Based on English norms - one of the strictest in the world - the guidebook specifies how a playground should be built: angles of toys, fixation, types of floors and adequate materials such as plastic, steel or galvanized iron with non toxic paint and treated wood. According to the norms, nowadays every playground should have an inspection book and a specialist must emit a technical report every year; the manufacturer of the toys will also have to install an identification plaque on the premises.
Those interested in acquiring a copy of the norms can do so directly ABNT (www.abnt.org.br), under the codes NBR nº 14.350-1 and nº 14.350-2(July /99). Conscious of these norms, parents, landlords, school principals and hotel owners have an instrument to control and, if necessary, substitute and improve the quality of the playgrounds used by the children.
SAFETY TIPS
Playing outdoors is healthy for the children. Fresh air, creative games, releasing energy or playing catch. With this in mind, planning a play area should be an appropriate space, both creative and safe. Check out some tips for the children´s safety below:
CIRCULATION AREA
Always plan the lay-out with 1,80 m of circulation around the whole extension of the playground.
ADULT SUPERVISION
The best prevention against accidents in playgrounds is parental supervision. Always monitor the children´s games so that the equipment is used correctly and let no visual obstacles come between the person responsible and the children.
With these tips, and making sure that the circulation area (specially with the swings and slides) is 1,80 m so that the children don´t run into the equipment or into each other, you´ll have a safer playground for the children´s comfort. Also make sure that there are no "traps" over which children can trip such as roots, tree trunks, concrete borders or abrupt changes in the elevation of the floor.
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