ASTM_F_1292_-_13.pdf

Designation:F129213An American National StandardStandard Specification forImpact Attenuation of Surfacing Materials Within the UseZone of Playground Equipment1This standard is issued under the fixed designation F1292;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.INTRODUCTIONSurveys by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission(CPSC)2and others haveshown that falls from playground equipment onto the underlying surface are a significant cause ofinjuries to children.Severe head injuries are the most frequently implicated cause of death inplayground equipment-related falls.Use of appropriate impact-attenuating surfacing materials in theuse zone of playground equipment can reduce the risk of fall-related injury.In particular,it is believedthat the risk of life-threatening head injuries is reduced when appropriate surfacing materials areinstalled.This specification specifies impact attenuation performance requirements for playground surfacesand surfacing materials and provides a means of determining impact attenuation performance using atest method that simulates the impact of a childs head with the surface.The test method quantifiesimpact in terms of g-max and Head Injury Criterion(HIC)scores.G-max is the measure of themaximum acceleration(shock)produced by an impact.The Head Injury Criterion or HIC score is anempirical measure of impact severity based on published research describing the relationship betweenthe magnitude and duration of impact accelerations and the risk of head trauma.The standard includesprocedures allowing surfacing materials to be performance-rated before installation and for installedsurfacing materials to be tested for conformance with the specification.The purpose of this specification is to reduce the frequency and severity of fall-related head injuriesto children by establishing a uniform and reliable means of comparing and specifying the impactattenuation of playground surfaces.Its use will give designers,manufacturers,installers,prospectivepurchasers,owners,and operators of playgrounds a means of objectively assessing the performanceof surfacing materials under and around playground equipment and hence of evaluating the associatedinjury risk.1.Scope1.1 This specification establishes minimum performancerequirements for the impact attenuation of playground surfac-ing materials installed within the use zone of playgroundequipment.1.2 This specification is specific to surfacing used in con-junction with playground equipment,such as that described inSpecifications F1148,F1487,F1918,F1951,and F2075.1.3 This specification establishes an impact attenuationperformance criterion for playground surfacing materials;ex-pressed as a critical fall height.1.4 This specification establishes procedures for determin-ing the critical fall height of playground surfacing materialsunder laboratory conditions.The laboratory test is mandatoryfor surfaces to conform to the requirements of this specifica-tion.1.5 The laboratory test required by this specification ad-dresses the performance of dry surfacing materials.1.6 The critical fall height of a playground surfacing mate-rial determined under laboratory conditions does not accountfor important factors that have the potential to influence theactual performance of installed surfacing materials.Factorsthat are known to affect surfacing material performance includebut are not limited to aging,moisture,maintenance,exposureto temperature extremes(for example,freezing),exposure to1This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee F08 on SportsEquipment,Playing Surfaces,and Facilities and is the direct responsibility ofSubcommittee F08.63 on Playground Surfacing Systems.Current edition approved Nov.1,2013.Published November 2013.Originallyapproved in 1991.Last previous edition approved in 2009 as F1292 09.DOI:10.1520/F1292-13.2U.S.CPSC Special Study.Injuries and Deaths Associated with ChildrensPlayground Equipment,April 2001.US Consumer Product Safety Commission,Washington DC.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 ultravioletlight,contaminationwithothermaterials,compaction,loss of thickness,shrinkage,submersion in water,and so forth.1.7 This specification also establishes a procedure for test-ing installed playground surfaces in order to determine whetheran installed playground surface meets the specified perfor-mance criterion.1.8 The results of a field test determine conformance ofinstalled playground surfacing materials with the criterion ofthis specification and are specific to the ambient conditionsunder which the test was performed.1.9 The impact attenuation specification and test methodsestablished in this specification are