July 15th, 2005
- Governor Signs HF-875 Supporting Playground Safety Surfacing Study.
In
the most recent legislative session ending in May 2005, Governor Vilsack along
with a team of legislators from both sides of the aisle, signed HF-875 to allow
the National Program for Playground Safety, based at the University of Northern
Iowa, to continue studies of safe playground surfacing technologies in the
state of Iowa.
In 1995, the University of
Northern Iowa established the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS)
with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Injury Prevention (CDC)
in Atlanta. Since that time, NPPS has become the premier non-profit
organization dealing with playground safety information in the United States.
This legislation marks the third
year of the playground safety study which has yielded positive results for Iowa
children. The NPPS results, so far,
indicate a decrease in serious injuries by 55% when schools use DuroMat™
Extended Life playground tiles manufactured by Welch Products in Carlisle Iowa,
combined with NPPS's playground safety
education.
