Ensuring safety in public playgrounds is everybody’s business

Children need outdoor play but safety standards alone will never prevent all injuries; robust data are required to guide risk minimisation strategies

When an injury occurs in a children’s playground, who is responsible? Media headlines1,2 have highlighted risks associated with a recently opened playground in north-western Sydney. The playground’s giant tube slide was closed following a spate of injuries to both adult and child patrons. With injuries described as “horrific”, the media questioned “how the 30 m long, 14 m tall slide passed safety rules”.1 While playground injuries are fairly common,3 there are specific multilevel responsibilities required to balance the importance of play and physical activity with mitigation of injury risk. In this article, we review the role of standards in industry governance and injury prevention.