Children’s Play Equipment ‘Critical Fall Height’

 

The ‘Critical Fall Height’ is the assessment fall height at which a safety surface is seen to sufficiently absorb enough impact from a fall to significantly reduce the risk that your child could receive critical injuries, if they were to fall from a climbing frame or playset.

The critical fall height is used to determine the thickness and surfacing area required for any safety surface which that is to be used with any children’s play equipment.

The installation of a safety surface such as wet pour rubber matting with children’s play equipment is not compulsory if it is not for commercial use such as in schools, nurseries or public playgrounds  and is simply for your back garden. However, it is highly recommended that safety precautions are taken in order to reduce the risk of serious injuries to your children.

The critical fall height is designed to provide you with a guideline in how to keep your child as safe as possible where climbing frames are concerned. The required thickness of safety surfaces to be used around children’s play equipment will depend on the critical fall height. The critical fall height is calculated using the height of whichever play platform in the play frame is highest.

The size of the area that would need to be covered by the safety surface is determined by the critical fall zone of the play equipment it is accompanying. Playset manufacturers will often provide guidelines with particular playsets about the area and thickness needed for safety surfaces.

With the popular wet pour rubber safety matting, 30mm is generally the absolute minimum thickness. This is the minimum thickness which is required in order for the rubber safety surface to absorb enough impact for it to do its job properly and keep children safe.

Wet pour rubber surfaces are very popular and are extremely useful in many areas including sport and leisure activities, playgrounds, outdoor play areas and so on. This safety surfacing material is relatively quick drying and will leave you with a fantastic seamless hard wearing safety mat which can withstand hours of fun, safe play!

For help and assistance with the installation of your climbing frame or rubber safety surface, contact the climbing frame installers today! Our professional, experienced team of climbing frame builders and safety surface installers are always happy to help.