WASHINGTON , D.C. – With this year’s back to school season in full swing, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is urging parents, teachers and school administrators to help prevent unnecessary injuries this fall by conducting a series of safety checks to identify hidden hazards in and around schools.

CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton says that taking a few, simple steps, such as conducting safety checks on school playgrounds, athletic fields, and inside the classroom can help prevent children from serious injuries during the school year.

“Parents, teachers and school administrators each play a major role in promoting back-to-school safety,” he said. “Conducting school safety checks for hidden hazards will go a long way towards keeping kids in the classroom and out of the emergency room.”

The CPSC is providing the following back-to-school safety tips to help prevent injuries this fall:

SAFETY ON PLAYGROUNDS

Playgrounds : each year, more than 200,000 children are taken to hospital emergency rooms due to playground-related injuries. Most injuries occur when a child falls onto the playground surface.

• Check with your child’s school to make sure there is at least nine inches of safe, shock absorbing surface material, consisting of wood chips, mulch, sand, pea gravel, or mats made of safety-tested rubber or fiber material.
• Make sure there is no exposed hardware to catch clothing and no free-hanging ropes attached to the equipment.

Parents should talk to school officials to make sure the school’s equipment complies with all federal, state and local standards and requirements.

In addition, CPSC urges parents and schools to check for recalled children’s products by visiting www.cpsc.gov or www.recalls.gov