A Comparative Study On The Safety Standards Of Children's Outdoor Playground In Us And Canada

Children's outdoor playgrounds are specialized or non-specialized venues for children to engage in outdoor play.Due to the occurrence of children's playground injuries,the safety of playground has been pushed to the public in recent years.Among the factors that affect the safety of playground,safety standards are the key to judging the safety of children's outdoor playgrounds.However,the research and formulation of the outdoor playground safety standards in China are relatively lagging behind,and there is still a big gap compared with other foreign countries.Based on the relevant international standards and their national conditions,the United States and Canada have developed a relatively mature and standardized outdoor playground safety standards that are characteristic of their own country,which is worth learning for China.Therefore,this study compares the Public Playground Safety Handbook(2010 edition)of the United States with the Children's Play Spaces and Equipment(2014 edition)of Canada.On the basis of introducing the formulation,evolution and content of the outdoor playground safety standards of the United States and Canada,the paper focuses on the comparative analysis of the makers,mechanism,basis and main contents of the two standards.Through the comparison,it is found that in the formulation of the two safety standards,the subjects are diverse,and the formulation of the mechanism is normative and democratic.Besides the basis of the formulation is objective.In terms of the content of safety standards,the similarities between the two standards are greater than the differences.First,regarding the space planning of the playground,the United States and Canada both pay attention to the regional elements of layout,taking into account the objectivity and security of the regional division.Second,regarding the appropriate design,the two countries emphasize the safety and age appropriateness of the playground equipments,surfaces,materials and other components.Third,regarding the factors to safety requirements,they both highlight the impact of risk factors and the role of supervisors on the safety of the playground Fourth,regarding the equipment and surface management,they require that the playground should be secured before it is put into use,and they develop inspection and maintenance plans separately with operability and flexibility.The differences are mainly reflected in the fact that the Handbook has special regulations for the site selection of the playground.The Canadian standard focuses on the role of intermediary agents and requires the performance testing of the integrity about equipment structures.According to the results of the comparison,the researcher suggests absorbing the mature experience of the United States and Canada,developing a safety standard of children's outdoor playground which is suitable for China's national conditions,and supporting the development of a support system of the children's outdoor playground safety standard.In addition,we can improve the kindergartens' level of safety management of the outdoor playground from the following four aspects,such as the reasonable planning of the spatial layout,the age appropriate design,the improvement of the supervisors' ability,and the consummate security management mechanism.