Notice2024-22433
Notice of Availability and Request for Comment: Public Playground Handbook Update
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 1, 2024
Issuing agencies
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Abstract
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) is announcing the availability of draft updates to its "Public Playground Safety Handbook."
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79901-79902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22433]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
[Docket No. CPSC-2024-0030]
Notice of Availability and Request for Comment: Public Playground
Handbook Update
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or
CPSC) is announcing the availability of draft updates to its ``Public
Playground Safety Handbook.''
DATES: Comments must be received by December 2, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You can submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2024-
0030, by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments. Do not submit through this
website: confidential business information, trade secret information,
or other sensitive or protected information that you do not want to be
available to the public. CPSC typically does not accept comments
submitted by email, except as described below.
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier/Confidential Written Submissions: CPSC
encourages you to submit electronic comments by using the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. You may, however, submit comments by mail, hand
delivery, or courier to: Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product
Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814;
telephone: (301) 504-7479. If you wish to submit confidential business
information, trade secret information, or other sensitive or protected
information that you do not want to be available to the public, you may
submit such comments by mail, hand delivery, or courier, or you may
email them to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3b584b48581654487b584b4858155c544d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="40233033236d2f3300233033236e272f36">[email protected]</span></a>.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number. CPSC may post all comments without change, including any
personal identifiers, contact information, or other personal
information provided, to: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Do not submit to
this website: confidential business information, trade secret
information, or other sensitive or protected information that you do
not want to be available to the public. If you wish to submit such
information, please submit it according to the instructions for mail/
hand delivery/courier/confidential written submissions.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, and insert the
docket number, CPSC-2024-0030, into the ``Search'' box, and follow the
prompts.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Taxier, Children's Program
Manager, Division of Mechanical and Combustion Engineering, U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission, 5 Research Place, Rockville, MD
20850-3213; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2a4e5e4b52434f586a495a5949044d455c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a6c2d2c7decfc3d4e6c5d6d5c588c1c9d0">[email protected]</span></a>; telephone: (301) 987-2211.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
published the first Handbook for Public Playground Safety (the
Handbook) in 1981. This original document was a two-volume set
containing technical guidance intended to reduce deaths and injuries to
children associated with playground equipment. In 1991, the Handbook
was revised to a single volume, which contained recommendations based
on a COMSIS Corporation report to the CPSC.\1\ Also in 1991, the first
ASTM International (ASTM) standard for playground safety, F1292:
Standard Specification for Impact Attenuation of Surface Systems Under
and Around Playground Equipment, was published. In 1993, ASTM F1487:
Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification for Playground
Equipment for Public Use was published. CPSC published minor revisions
to the Handbook in 1994. In 1997, the Handbook was updated based on
ASTM F1487, a playground safety roundtable meeting held in October of
1996, and comments received in response to a May 1997 CPSC request.
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\1\ The 1990 COMSIS report, Development of Human Factors
Criteria for Playground Equipment Safety, is available in six parts
on the CPSC website. Part 1 is available at: <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/content/Development-of-Human-Factors-Criteria-for-Playground-Equipment-Safety-Part-1">https://www.cpsc.gov/content/Development-of-Human-Factors-Criteria-for-Playground-Equipment-Safety-Part-1</a>. Part 2 is available at: <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/content/Development-of-Human-Factors-Criteria-for-Playground-Equipment-Safety-Part-2">https://www.cpsc.gov/content/Development-of-Human-Factors-Criteria-for-Playground-Equipment-Safety-Part-2</a>. Part 3 is available at: <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/content/Development-of-Human-Factors-Criteria-for-Playground-Equipment-Safety-Part-3">https://www.cpsc.gov/content/Development-of-Human-Factors-Criteria-for-Playground-Equipment-Safety-Part-3</a>. Part 4 is available at: <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/content/development-human-factors-criteria-playground-equipment-safety-part-4">https://www.cpsc.gov/content/development-human-factors-criteria-playground-equipment-safety-part-4</a>. Part 5 is available at: <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/content/Development-of-Human-Factors-Criteria-for-Playground-Equipment-Safety-Part-5">https://www.cpsc.gov/content/Development-of-Human-Factors-Criteria-for-Playground-Equipment-Safety-Part-5</a>. Part 6 is available at: <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/content/development-human-factors-criteria-playground-equipment-safety-part-6">https://www.cpsc.gov/content/development-human-factors-criteria-playground-equipment-safety-part-6</a>.
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Due to the lack of a Commission quorum at the time, 2008 revisions
to the Handbook were released as a draft staff document. Later in 2008,
members of ASTM's voluntary standards committee on playground equipment
and the International Play Equipment Manufacturers Association (IPEMA)
identified areas where the voluntary standards and the Handbook did not
align. In 2010, CPSC published a revised the Handbook that resolved
many of these issues.
Since 2010, ASTM has published new and revised public playground
standards,\2\ and new materials and equipment have been installed in
playgrounds. Additionally, members of ASTM, the National Program for
Playground Safety (NPPS), IPEMA, and members of the general public have
requested clarifications and recommended an update to the Handbook.
Based on the current editions of the relevant ASTM standards, feedback
from the public, and comments from ASTM and NPPS, CPSC is publishing a
revised draft Handbook with a focus on improvements to safety.
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\2\ See section 1.4.1 of the draft Handbook for a list of
relevant standards.
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The staff memorandum accompanying the draft Handbook, available at
<a href="https://cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/BallotVote-Public-Playground-Handbook-Update-2.pdf">https://cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/BallotVote-Public-Playground-Handbook-Update-2.pdf</a>?, summarizes major revisions included in the draft. These
changes include updated signage and labeling guidance; updated guidance
on common hazards for supervisor awareness; references to new impact
attenuation testing for suspended elements in ASTM F1487; an updated
warning label on potential
[[Page 79902]]
strangulation hazards; expanded guidance on merry-go-rounds and other
spinning equipment, consistent with requirements in ASTM F1487; and
several other minor revisions and corrections.
The draft Handbook is intended to provide guidance to childcare
personnel, school officials, parks and recreation personnel, equipment
purchasers and installers, playground designers, and any other members
of the general public (e.g., parents and school groups) concerned with
playground safety and interested in evaluating their respective
playgrounds. The draft Handbook also includes references to voluntary
standards that contain technical requirements that are primarily
intended for use by equipment designers and manufacturers, architects,
and any others requiring more technical information. The draft Handbook
is a guidance document; it is not a rule and does not establish legally
enforceable responsibilities.
The draft Handbook is available on the Commission's website at:
<a href="https://cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/BallotVote-Public-Playground-Handbook-Update-2.pdf">https://cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/BallotVote-Public-Playground-Handbook-Update-2.pdf</a>? and from the Commission's Office of the Secretary at the
location listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
The Commission invites comment on the document, ``Public Playground
Safety Handbook.'' Comments should be submitted by December 2, 2024.
Information on how to submit comments can be found in the ADDRESSES
section of this notice.
Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2024-22433 Filed 9-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
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