The goal for the Playground Safety Grant is to reduce unintentional injuries occurring on playgrounds through awareness and education. Greene County is one of two counties in the state to be awarded a playground safety grant. Since 2002, twenty-eight playgrounds have been audited, including public parks, childcare centers, and schools. Additional consultations have been completed for a variety of other play spaces. The goal is to make the playgrounds in Greene County a safer place for our children.
Reports about the safety of our playground and the injuries involved continue to be generated. The information gathered is routinely compared to the national statistics for playground injuries and safety.
An additional part of the grant includes offering seminars to the owners of playgrounds. There have been two types of seminars offered in the past years: a full-day seminar about the actual safety of the facility and a half-day seminar about playground supervision. Initially, these seminars were offered in Greene County to participants in Greene and the surrounding counties. This past year, the seminars have been offered in surrounding counties to increase the safety of children in those locations.
Shorter presentations about playground safety are also available to institutions with playground facilities. Contact the Health Department to schedule a date.