Playground safety in Galveston parks: A descriptive analysis

Public playground safety is a major public health issue. The foundation of the playground safety movement is grounded by a public demand for safe parks and playground equipment. Significant morbidity and cost is associated with park playground injuries annually. Most playground injuries were attributed to falls. This report provides a descriptive analysis of playground composition and safety using the National Program for Playground Safety safety report card survey instrument for each of the 12 Galveston public park playground areas. All Galveston park playgrounds were found to score “A’s” on these safety surveys. The composition of playground equipment of Galveston parks is primarily climbing equipment, which accounts for 52 percent of the total equipment type. Climbing equipment means more fall risk and potential injuries. Appropriate fall surfacing and maintenance is a key feature in mitigating this risk at Galveston parks.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Public Health

Level thesis:degree_level

Master

Grantor

The University of Texas Medical Branch

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Jon Morris Johnson

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dr. Robert Johnson

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Dr. John J. Fraser
• Dr. Daniel H. Freeman, Jr.

• playground safety
• park safety
• Galveston park playgrounds

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the TDL web site by The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Dc Identifier Other

etd-11162007-100815

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:utmb-ir.tdl.org:2152.3/257