Safety in the gym has always been our top priority at Draper. That’s why we participated in the development of a new ASTM standard that provides direction to users, specifiers, and manufacturers of basketball backstops for installation in public venues.
ASTM F3731 – Standard Guide for Ceiling Suspended and Wall Mounted Basketball Backstops is the first such standard for these heavy products that are installed in gymnasiums around the world. The goal of this standard is to reduce potential hazards and set a level playing field for manufacturers regarding the safety of covered equipment.
Like all ASTM standards, F3731 was drafted by a technical sub-committee with relevant expertise, underwent a rigorous review process by stakeholders from that sub-committee, and balloting for approval within a full committee – in this case Committee F08 on Sports Equipment, Play Surfaces, and Facilities – before it was published. The sub-committee that created this standard is made up of most North American gymnasium equipment manufacturers and other interested parties.
As the chairman of the subcommittee responsible for this new standard, I can assure you much effort and careful consideration by many industry members was put into this important process.
ASTM Standard F3731 memorializes and documents the best practices to be used for covered products.
Key items called for in this standard include:
- Welding to meet requirements of American Welding Society Standard D1.1 Structural Welding Code for Steel or Canadian Standards Association Standard CSA W47.1 Fusion Welding of Steel.
- Establish minimum acceptable grades and strengths for hardware, wire rope, chain, linkages, turnbuckles, and similar components.
- Vertical members and height adjusters to include some form of positive stop or interlock to prevent clamps or components from sliding apart.
- Only momentary contact electrical controls are acceptable and they are to be located so that operator has clear visual and audible contact with equipment during operation.
- All upward folding backstops must include safety straps to automatically hold or arrest the fall of a backstop structure should a failure occur in the lifting system.
For Draper, the only item in this standard that changes for our gymnasium equipment is the call for safety straps on all upward folding backstops. Draper has always highly recommended the use of Safety Straps and tried our best to persuade every architect, dealer and contractor to include this important safety device, so we are glad to have this new standard to reinforce our position. Because Draper wants to only provide the safest products, Draper will no longer offer any upward folding backstops without a safety strap. Draper automatically includes a safety strap in the price of all upward folding backstops. It will not be an option to exclude this critical safety feature from applicable backstops.
ASTM standards are not law and there is no enforcement body that will be policing manufacturers, specifiers or users to confirm they follow ASTM Standard F3731. However, if an accident were to occur, any party involved with the design and supply of equipment for the facility may expose themselves to considerable liability for not following these published best industry practices.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions on the new standard.
