FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: SHANNON GODWIN
515-371-7321
Monday - October 16th,
2006
The National Safe
Surfacing Initiative Culminates a Busy Season of Playground Surfacing
Installations
The success of the National
Safe Surfacing Initiative, the playground safety division of Welch Products, is
showing that the company is having a positive influence on childcare centers
and public schools with their unique brand of professional expertise and
quality products necessary for upgrading playgrounds with rubber tile safety
surfacing. As the efficacy of safety
surfacing installations becomes more widely known and the number of
installations grow, news agencies such as local
television, radio and news
papers are reporting on the increasing popularity of the new surfacing.
According to studies by the
National Program
for Playground Safety, approximately 80% of all school injuries happen outside the school building. Each year over 200,000 children are injured
on playgrounds and over 70% of those injuries are caused by falls to the
surface. Very relevant statistics
when you consider the fact that schools and child care centers are just
beginning to provide greater stewardship of their outdoor play and fitness
environments.
Playground safety is
becoming the focus of several federal and state agencies in an attempt to
minimize the number and severity of injuries to children on playgrounds. Ten years ago, the Center for Disease
Control (CDC) in Atlanta spun off a new group, the National Program for
Playground Safety (NPPS), to study playground injuries and to research the
steps necessary to minimize those injuries through education and compliance.
The State of Iowa launched
the Iowa Safe Surfacing Initiative (ISSI) four years ago, in conjunction with
the NPPS, to determine if the use of rubber safety tiles, manufactured in Iowa,
would actually result in safer and more accessible playgrounds by reducing the
number of emergency room injuries and providing ADA access to children of all
abilities. Results
from the NPPS over the first two years of the study have shown that playground
safety tiles, used in conjunction with safety training, reduced emergency room
injuries by 75%.
Made from hundreds of
thousands of recycled tires, the surfacing installed this summer meets or
exceeds all safety guidelines recommended by the Consumer Product Safety
Commission, as well as those required by Detroit Testing Laboratories for IPEMA
certification.
The NSSI's dedication to ongoing
research, improving safer surfacing technology and changing public policy will
continue to benefit the safety of children while improving our environment.
