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Injury and Death Resulted From Hanging From Ropes, Cords, Homemade Rope Swings

Rope Cords on Playground Equipment Risk Data

From January 1990 through August 2000, CPSC received reports of at least 90 fatal incidents that occurred in home locations. This represents about 70 percent of all playground-related deaths at known locations. A total of 147deaths to children younger than age 15 were reported for all playground locations. Almost three-fourths (66) of the deaths in home locations resulted from hanging from ropes, cords, homemade rope swings, and similar items.

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Other deaths resulted from home equipment tip over or collapse, falls from equipment, and other causes. In all locations, over one-half of the deaths involved hanging. Other causes of playground equipment-related deaths included falls, equipment tip over or collapse, entrapment, or impact with moving components.

Safety Standards In recent years

CPSC staff has worked with industry to strengthen playground safety standards to help protect children while they play. CPSC staff worked closely with ASTM on the safety standard for home playgrounds.

In 1998, the standard was revised to include:

• A requirement that ropes be secured at both ends to prevent the rope from being looped back on itself in a manner that could create a strangulation hazard.
• Also requires a warning in the play set instructions against attaching items such as jump ropes, clotheslines, pet leashes, cables, and chains, which may cause a strangulation hazard. 
• Guardrail requirements on platforms higher than 30 inches and protective barrier requirements on platforms higher than 48 inches, to help prevent falls.
• A requirement that a CPSC consumer information sheet for playground surfacing materials accompany the play set manual/instructions