When does playground equipment need shock-absorbing surfacing?

Playground equipment with a free height of fall above 60 cm requires shock-absorbing surfacing under BS EN 1176. Where equipment involves forced movement, such as swings and slides, surfacing is required throughout the impact area regardless of the free height of fall. For low-level equipment, the requirement depends on both the free height of fall and the type of movement.

The free height of fall is the distance from the clearly intended body support to the impact surface below and must not exceed 3 m. For a platform, the body support is the platform surface; for a swing, the seat surface; and for a horizontal bar, the gripping surface. For climbing, the maximum grip height less 1 m applies. The critical fall height of the surfacing is determined by a series of drop tests to BS EN 1177 and must be at least equal to the equipment’s free height of fall.

Under BS EN 1176, grass and topsoil are acceptable up to a free height of fall of 100 cm, provided the surface is maintained, yielding and free from stones, roots, foundations and other hard objects. Once the ground is compacted, dried out or frozen, these conditions are no longer met. For equipment intended exclusively for domestic use, BS EN 71-8 applies instead of BS EN 1176, and shock-absorbing surfacing is required in a private garden as well.