Safety assessment in the urban park environment in Alborz Provin

Safety assessment in the urban park environment in Alborz Province, Iran

Morteza Oostakhan^a and Aliakbar Babaei^b

^aFaculty of Medicine, Department of Occupational Health Engineering, University of Tarbiat Modarres, Tehran, Iran; ^bDepartment of Industrial Design, School of Architecture and Environmental Design, University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

(Received 25 November 2011; final version received 9 February 2012)

Abstract  

Urban parks, as one of the recreational and sports sectors, could cause serious injuries among different ages if the safety issues in their design are not considered. These injuries can result from the equipment in the park, including play and sports equipment, or even from environmental factors, too. Lack of safety benchmark in parks will impact on the development of future proposals. In this article, attempts are made to survey the important safety factors in the urban parks including playgrounds, fitness equipment, pedestrian surface and environmental factors into a risk assessment. Hence, a checklist of safety factors was used. A Yes or No descriptor was allocated to any factor for determining safety level. The study also suggests recommendations for future planning concerning existing failures for designers. It was found that the safety level of the regional and local parks differ from each other.   

Keywords: urban park; sports injuries; risk factors; safety; design; injury prevention 

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(2012 Taylor & Francis, International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion)