BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: AB 1513
AUTHOR: Allen
AMENDED: April 17, 2012
HEARING DATE: June 13, 2012
CONSULTANT: Orr
SUBJECT : Playgrounds: retail food facilities.
SUMMARY : Requires that playgrounds on the premises of a food
facility meet the same standard of cleanliness for all other
areas of the food facility, with specified exceptions. Imposes
requirements on a food facility with a playground on the
premises to develop a policy to ensure the safety and
cleanliness of the playground.
Existing law:
1.Requires, within the California Retail Food Code, that all
premises of a food facility to be kept clean, fully operative,
and in good repair.
2.Requires all new playgrounds open to the public built by a
public agency or any other entity, and any modifications or
replacements to existing playgrounds to conform to the
playground-related standards set forth by the American Society
for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the playground-related
guidelines set forth by the United States Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC).
3.Defines "playground" as an improved outdoor area designed,
equipped, and set aside for children's play that includes any
playground equipment, fall zones, surface materials, access
ramps and all areas within and including the designated
enclosure and barriers. Excludes areas intended for use as
athletic playing fields or athletic courts from this
definition.
This bill:
1.Requires that playgrounds on the premises of a food facility
meet the same standard of cleanliness that exists for all
other areas of the food facility, with the exception of food
handling and preparation areas.
2.Requires a retail food facility with a playground to:
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a. develop a plan for ensuring that indoor playground areas
are kept clean and free of hazardous conditions,
b. display, or provide upon request, the retail food
facility's policy on playground maintenance and dates on
which the playground was last inspected and cleaned, and
c. post a sign prohibiting customers from taking food into
or on, or eating food on, playground structures.
3.Clarifies that premises of a food facility required to be kept
clean, fully operative, and in good repair, include any indoor
and outdoor playground on the premises.
4.Unrestricts the definition of "playground" from only being
limited to outdoor play areas, as described.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, costs associated would be minor and absorbable within
existing resources.
PRIOR VOTES :
Assembly Health: 13- 5
Assembly Appropriations:12- 5
Assembly Floor: 49- 26
COMMENTS :
1.Author's statement. In spite of standards related to
playground safety and maintenance, conversations with local
public health officials and others reveal that those standards
may be inadequate for ensuring that all playgrounds are
sufficiently clean and safe for use by our children. Of
special note are playgrounds offered by restaurants, which can
pose unique challenges to cleanliness and safety due to their
close proximity to food. Several anecdotal reports and
complaints have been received about restaurant facility
playgrounds being unsafe and unclean for children. More
specificity would be helpful toward making sure that
restaurant playgrounds are maintained, in order to offer some
measure of assurance that they are suitable for use by
children.
2.Background. An Arizona-based organization called Kids Play
Safe (KPS) tested the safety and cleanliness of restaurant
playgrounds in 11 states, including California. While some
facilities were found to be well maintained and cleaned,
others were found with contaminated food, used cups or
wrappers, and cracked, broken, or otherwise hazardous climbing
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structures. The samples they collected from these playground
facilities, and subsequently tested, revealed the widespread
presence of an array of pathogens from fungus to mold to
dangerous bacteria that can cause a range of ailments
including gangrene, pneumonia, and pelvic inflammatory
disease. Samples taken from California restaurant playgrounds
found the presence of bacteria that cause meningitis
(acinetobacter lwoffi) which is a potentially fatal infection
of the brain or spinal cord, and coliform (fecal) bacteria,
which can cause gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea and nausea at
levels that indicate these playgrounds are not disinfected as
frequently as necessary.
KPS also reports that they have identified maintenance
problems with these structures, including broken second-story
windows, cracks in slides and tubes, torn netting, missing
bolts and screws, and graffiti. KPS states that there are
currently no regulations at the state or the federal level
that require food establishments with indoor playgrounds to
keep them clean or safe, and, without regulatory incentive,
most facilities either do not have proper corporate cleaning
and maintenance procedures or they are not being enforced.
Moderate estimates indicate that there are more than 15,000 of
these facilities in operation nationwide, each with an average
of 50 children at play per day.
3.Playground guidelines and standards. The CPSC is an
independent agency of the U.S. government, charged with
regulating the sale and manufacture of a variety of consumer
products to protect against unreasonable risks of injuries
associated with those products. CPSC asserts that inadequate
maintenance of playground equipment has resulted in
significant injuries on playgrounds and estimates that there
are more than 200,000 injuries annually on public playgrounds
across the country that require emergency room treatment. CPSC
issues a playground safety handbook to describe proper
maintenance guidelines and practices for public playgrounds
and recommends that a comprehensive maintenance program be
developed for each playground. CPSC also recommends that all
playground areas and equipment be inspected for excessive
wear, deterioration, and any potential hazards. CPSC suggests
inspecting playground facilities routinely for several
maladies, including the following: broken equipment such as
loose bolts, missing end caps, cracks, etc.; cracks in
plastics; loose anchorings; hazardous or dangerous debris;
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insect damage; trash; worn, loose, damaged or missing parts;
and rusted or corroded metals, among others.
ASTM also issues safety and performance standards for various
types of playground equipment, including standards for public
playground equipment, play equipment for infants and toddlers,
and playground surfacing. ASTM standards are developed by
technical committees and used by individuals, companies, and
agencies. By no longer restricting the definition of
playground to only mean outdoor play areas, AB 1513 will
require indoor playground facilities, including those at
retail food establishments, to be subject to these CPSC and
ASTM safety and maintenance standards. However, neither ASTM
nor CPSC specifically defines standard cleaning or sanitation
practices for playground equipment.
4.Prior legislation. AB 1144 (Harman), Chapter 470, Statutes of
2006, requires all new playgrounds open to the public, and all
playgrounds open to the public that were installed during a
specified time period, to conform with playground-related
standards set by ASTM and the playground-related guidelines
set by CPSC, as specified.
5.Support. The Consumer Federation of California (CFC) supports
AB 1513. CFC claims that the playgrounds referenced in this
bill are designed for extensive use by many different
children, and they endure a great deal of wear, as well as
contact with contaminants which makes them a potentially major
health and safety risk. By specifying that food facility
playgrounds be included in current law, CFC claims that AB
1513 will ensure that those playgrounds are safe for children.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION :
Support: Consumer Federation of California
Oppose: None received.
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