Playground Liability

It may be easy to assume that when playground accidents happen there is no liability on the part of anyone. However, that may not be the case. There are many types of injuries on the playground and there may indeed be liability. To determine the type of liability and exactly who is the liable party or parties will require some investigation, as well as knowledge about liability.

Startling Statistics

Each year, more than a dozen children are killed in playground accidents. Another 150,000 or more are estimated to be injured while playing at a playground. The majority of playground injuries occur at school or park playgrounds, rather than on the family backyard playground equipment.

SafeKids USA reports that the number one cause of injury to children between the ages of five to fourteen years of age is playground injuries. Three quarters of those occur at school or park playgrounds. Other playground injuries have occurred at restaurant playgrounds, in addition to backyard playgrounds.

Causes of Playground Injuries

There are numerous causes of playground injuries. If children are fighting, however, and one child shoves another to the ground, or up against a piece of playground equipment, then it is not actually the playground equipment itself that has caused the injury.

All too often, causes of playground injuries are due to poor construction, defective parts, or parts that have worked themselves loose over time. Another cause is parts that have come off, have broken or been purposefully removed. Playground equipment must be maintained and inspected regularly.

Playground equipment may not be entirely safe for other reasons. A child can catch a piece of clothing or their shoe in weak or loose parts. This can cause potential serious injury or even strangulation if the child is unable to immediately break free.

Where Does Liability for Playground Injuries Lie?

Gone are the days when a child is automatically blamed as the cause of playground injuries.

Studies have shown that many playground injuries that occur on school playgrounds are the result of lack of proper supervision. Some of the lawsuits related to school playground injury have centered on negligence due to lack of proper supervision. While not practical that a teacher or playground monitor can keep his or her eyes on every single student at every moment the students are on the playground, they are expected to exhibit a reasonable level of adequate supervision.

In public playground areas such as parks, it is not just the equipment that can cause injury. The administrators of the park, even if owned and run by a city, can be held responsible if a child is injured by a cause such as not having proper material around the playground equipment. This would include playground surface materials such as wood chips or another material to act as a proper shock absorber in the case of falls or other playground injuries.

Manufacturers, marketers of playground equipment and those maintaining public playgrounds are being increasingly held responsible for playground injuries.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has established guidelines for playground safety in one of its publications. Some states have adopted these guidelines. Another important resource governing playground equipment safety is published by the Consumer Federation of America. It is titled “Report and Model Law of Playground Equipment and Areas.” These standards also require documentation of regular inspections, maintenance and repair to all playground equipment. A record of the inspections and any repairs is required to be maintained.

At this time, only a handful of states have legally adopted these playground safety standards. That has not, however, prevented complainants in other states from successfully recovering damages due to injury or death caused by playground injuries.

Perhaps other states will soon look at the states that have adopted these standards and will adopt them as law also.


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