Kidsafe Queensland

Falls - 83% of playground injuries occurred when children jumped or fell from equipment. Research shows the most serious playground injuries are caused when children fall from equipment onto a hard surface such as compacted earth, bitumen, or concrete.

Height - Approximately 30% of falls were from heights over 1m. The most common injury from a fall over 1m was a fracture (62%) with sprains/strains and concussion being the next most frequent injuries. Over one third (35%) of all concussion injuries were from a fall greater than 1m.

Injury - The most common injury to occur from play equipment was a fracture (49%). More than half of play equipment injuries were to 5-9 year old children.

Equipment - One third of children who attended hospital Emergency Departments had injuries which were related to monkey bars or climbing equipment. Other types of playground equipment commonly associated with injury were swings (21%) and slides (18%).

Where - The most commonly occurring location for playground injuries was in schools where just under one third of injuries (30%) occurred. The second most common location was home which accounted for 29%, and public parks 25%.

THE 5-9 YEAR AGE GROUP

• 78% of flying fox injuries are from the 5-9 yr group
• 71% of monkey bar or climbing equipment injuries from 5-9 yr group
• 63% of falls higher than 1m from 5-9 yr group
• 52% of all fall injuries were from 5-9 yr group

TRAMPOLINES

• 93% of trampoline injuries in Queensland occurred at home
• More than half of the injuries were to 5-9 year old children
• 40% of the injuries were fractures most often to the arm
• It is estimated that each year there are 15 injuries for every 1000 trampolines in South Brisbane region