The purpose of these Federal safety guidelines is to reduce the severity and frequency of injury associated with public playground equipment under conditions of normal use and reasonably foreseeable misuse. Safety guidelines regarding: (1) assembly, installation, maintenance instructions and identification; (2) materials of manufacture and construction; (3) sharp points and edges, protrusions, and pinch and crush points; (4) equipment that rotates about a vertical axis; (5) entrapment; and (6) falls from equipment are suggested. The guidelines apply to playground equipment intended for use in play areas of parks, schools, institutions, multiple family dwellings, private resorts and recreation developments, and other areas of public institutional use. They do not apply to amusement park equipment, equipment normally intended for sports use, or to home playground equipment. In addition, components of equipment intended solely for use by the handicapped and necessarily modified to safely accommodate such users, are exempt from the requirement(s) applicable to those components. The supporting rationale for the specifications and requirements is extensively discussed. (Author/RH)