Swing Set Safety
In order to provide a safer and more enjoyable play experience for
your children, Swing-N-Slide offers the following list of safety
recommendations:
IMPORTANT!
Swing-N-Slide products are intended for single-family residential
use only and not intended for use in any public setting. Placement in
any public setting constitutes a misuse of this product.
Safe Assembly Practices
Caution: When building kits, at
least two people are required for lifting and holding beams, frames and
other heavy assemblies in position before bolting or nailing. Special
precautions must be taken when handling treated wood. Contact your local
supplier for specific information.
Safety: Wear safety glasses to
protect your eyes from flying wood chips when cutting or drilling. Use a
dust mask. Blunt nail points to prevent wood from splitting. To prevent
splinters, sand the corners, edges, and all points of the wood by
wrapping a piece of 80-grit sandpaper around a block of wood and
sanding.
Installation Safety - Have you:
- Consulted the assembly instructions supplied with your particular model?
- Built the unit per the plans supplied without altering the design?
- Made sure all hardware is tightened securely? (Supplied bolt covers must also be fastened securely).
- Using a hacksaw, cut off all protruding threaded ends of bolts
and other fasteners and remove any sharp edges with a metal file as
needed?
- Placed the equipment on level ground, not less that 6 feet (1.8
meter) from any structure or obstruction such as a fence, garage,
house, overhanging branches, laundry lines, or electrical wires?
- Made sure home playground equipment is not installed over
concrete, asphalt, packed earth or any other hard surface? (a fall onto a
hard surface can result in serious injury to the equipment user.)
- Verified that suspended ropes and chains (except those used for
swings) are secured at both ends so that they cannot be looped back on
themselves?
- Consulted the assembly instructions of your particular model for minimum use zones?
- Followed all anchoring and shock absorbing surfacing requirements as they apply?
- Made sure not to allow children in the area during assembly or to use equipment until it is properly installed?
- Installed only Swing-N-Slide products and accessories approved for use with this product?
- Saved the plan for future reference?
Required Safety Installation Instructions
According to ASTM requirements, all rope ends must be anchored to
the ground. If soil conditions permit stakes to be pulled out easily,
cementing into the ground is necessary.In addition, Swing-N-Slide
recommends that all units be anchored to the ground.
- When anchoring unit to the ground use Swing-N-Slide Anchor-It
Ground Anchors, for proper installation of Anchor-It Ground Anchors
instructions included in the kit must be followed.
- When anchoring a climbing rope with Anchor-It Ground Anchor,
anchor the rope end. For proper installation instructions included in
the kit must be followed.
-
Once the unit is completely assembled and before children are
allowed to play on it, proper shock absorbing surfacing material must be
installed. This may be accomplished by using loose-fill materials at a
sufficient depth. The Consumer Product Safety Commission "Handbook for
Public Playground Safety" lists the following materials and required
depths that are sufficient for home/residential application. For fall
height protection up to 9 ft. (2.742m) [recommended for Swing-n-Slide
kits]:
| Loose Fill Material |
Required (Uncompressed) Depth |
| Wood Mulch |
9" (229mm) |
| Double Shredded Bark Mulch |
9" (229mm) |
| Uniform Wood Chips |
12" (305mm) |
| Fine Sand |
12" (305mm) |
| Fine Gravel |
12" (305mm) |
- When properly installed, shock absorbing material will
completely cover the horizontal baseboards on climbing units. This
protective surfacing must extend a minimum of 6 ft. (1.828m) in all
directions from the perimeter of the equipment or from the outermost
edges of any component. For example, a slide extending beyond the
platform must have protective surfacing at least 6 ft. (1.828m) out from
both sides as well as the end. For Swings, the protective surface must
extend at least 14 ft. out from both the back and front of the swing
when swing is in its resting position.