Hello glitterbag,
Thank you for your question.
I can easily understand your concerns and as you will see, there is a
great deal of articles and information available on playground
accidents, lawsuits and potential liabilities. Here are a number of
such articles with excerpts I thought you might find interesting:
injuryboard.com
http://www.injuryboard.com/view.cfm/ID=39/TYPE=FAQ/ARTICLE=279
"...Are playground-related injuries a problem?
200,000 preschool and elementary school children visit emergency rooms
annually for treatment of injuries sustained while using playground
equipment. About 70% of these injuries occur on public playgrounds.
Approximately 35% of all playground accidents result in severe
injuries such as fractures, concussions, dislocations, internal
injuries, and amputations.
What types of playground equipment cause the most injuries?
Children falling off of swings, monkey bars, climbers, and slides
account for the majority of these injuries.
What are the costs associated with playground injuries?
In 1995, the costs associated with playground injuries exceeded $1.2
billion..."
Slosipe.org
http://www.slosipe.org/TRAIN/santabarbara/Mod11/pg2.htm
Playground Supervision
Determining Safe And Unsafe Play
"...When a child is injured on a playground and the parents retain an
attorney, the lawyer’s first question is, "Where was the playground
supervisor?" Parents and lawyers want to know how many children were
on the playground at the time of the injury, and how many supervisors
were present. In liability cases, lawyers have successfully argued
than an insufficient number of supervisors can cause playground
injuries..."
Chatanoogan.com
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_35504.asp
"Lawsuit Filed Against County Schools On Playground Injury
posted April 21, 2003
After a student at Wolftever Elementary School was injured in a fall
from a slide, the county schools has been sued for $135,000..."
On a more positive note, Overlawyered.com notes:
http://overlawyered.com/letters/03/janmar.html#0331
"Maybe there's hope yet. Today's (Feb. 26, not online) Courier News
of Bridgewater, N.J. reports on a case in which a judge actually made
a sane decision regarding a lawsuit. It seems a boy jumped over a
chain fence designed to keep cars from driving onto a school
playground. He chipped several teeth -- and his mother sued claiming
the school was negligent for allowing "a dangerous situation to
exist".
Judge Rosemarie R. Williams, a Superior Court judge sitting in my town
of Somerville, noted that the chain was painted yellow and was
connected to two yellow posts. Also, children were easily able to
walk around it to get to the playground. She also said that it was
difficult for her to view an item that was put into place to protect
students from a far more obvious danger as creating a dangerous
situation itself. Finally, she ruled that climbing, walking, or
jumping over the chain when it could have been walked around was not
an exercise of due care.
And then she threw out the case. Three cheers for Judge Williams! -- "
http://www.world-playground.com/Burton.htm
PLAYGROUND SAFETY SOLUTIONS
"LITIGATION
Not long ago, I had a case where a child incurred a 1" scar on his
elbow after another boy pulled him off of a chin-up bar. The equipment
and surfacing passed inspection. There were no broken bones, just a
scar. They settled out of court for $50,000! If you are an
owner/municipality and have not been sued yet, I hope I'm getting
through. This is no longer an area that you can treat lightly.
Consider the liability implications of designing, installing, and
inspecting playground equipment yourself. Governmental Immunity will
cover an employee's legal expenses, but if they are personally named
in a lawsuit they may be held financially responsible if the jury
feels they have been grossly negligent. Such was the case in a popular
lawsuit in Louisiana regarding misinterpretations!.."
Online Athens
http://www.onlineathens.com/1998/050998/0509.a2playground.html
"Glynn County PTA asks county to buy playground equipment
By Teresa Stepzinski
Staff Writer
BRUNSWICK - Some Brunswick parents want to change a policy typical
throughout Georgia in which school boards don't buy playground
equipment, parents do.
Traditionally, the Glynn County School District, like many in the
state, has left buying recreational materials to parents who come up
with cash through bake sales and barbecues...
...Henson, a lawyer, also said that parent teacher groups that buy
playground equipment also can be held liable in a civil lawsuit if a
child is injured or killed while using the apparatus.
Although no such lawsuits have been successful in Georgia, similar
cases have occurred in other states, Henson said..."
The Cincinatti Enquirer
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/05/04/loc_school_settles.html
"School settles lawsuit over boy's death
The Associated Press
BELLEVUE, Ohio — The family of a boy who was struck and killed
by a truck when he chased a ball off a school playground has settled
its lawsuit against the district.
Christian Beck's parents, Shawn and Toni Beck, will receive
$90,000 from the Bellevue School District.
The parents sued the district in 1998, saying there should
have been a fence surrounding the playground or a playground
supervisor to make sure children didn't run onto the busy highway..."
A Canadian site - Hotel Fun 4 Kids:
http://www.hotelfun4kids.com/hotelproducts/playsafe.htm
"PLAYGROUND SAFETY FOR VACATION RESORTS – WHAT RESORT OWNERS NEED TO
KNOW
...The CPSC in the US estimates that more than 200,000 children a year
go to an emergency room with injuries associated with playground
equipment ¾ of which are on large outdoor playground structures. Over
half of these injuries are from falls. About 15 children die each year
in the United States as a result of playground injuries, with most
deaths occurring as a result of entanglement or entrapment. Other
causes of injury are collisions with other children or equipment,
tripping, cuts or finger pinches, burns from hot metal slides or solid
surface metal platforms and improper use of equipment.
While the safety of the children should always be of the utmost
concern, as resort owners, you need to ensure that your playground is
safe from a liability and insurance standpoint also. Insurance
providers need to be aware of the existence of a playground at the
resort and that the playground is maintained to ensure the safety of
resort guests. As the owner of a playground, a reasonable standard of
care must be exercised in the installation and maintenance of any
playground structures. A lawsuit as a result of a playground injury
can be very expensive, not only from a cost prospective but from a PR
standpoint as well. A playground that has been audited by a qualified
inspector, brought up to and maintained to the requirements of the
current standards and inspected regularly can substantially reduce
liability exposure should an injury occur. It is also not a matter of
simply assuming that if your equipment is new, it complies with the
current standards. While written certification from the equipment
installer should be obtained upon installation that the current
standards are met for the equipment, ongoing inspections and
maintenance are a must to reduce your liability exposure in the event
of an accident..."
Life.ca has an article on a potential liability I would not have
considered:
http://www.life.ca/nl/82/playground.html
"Children's Playground Equipment Poses Arsenic Risk
Children are more likely to be exposed to harmful levels of arsenic
from play structures, picnic tables and decks than from drinking water
according to a recent report called Poisoned Playgrounds from the
Environmental Working Group (EWG), a California-based advocacy group.
“We know that arsenic in drinking water is dangerous for kids, but
what we found was that the arsenic in lumber is an even greater risk,”
says EWG analyst Renee Sharp. “In less than ten days, an average
five-year-old playing on an arsenic-treated playset would exceed the
lifetime cancer risk considered acceptable under federal pesticide
law.”...
...The Center for Environmental Health (CEH), another American
advocacy group, has filed a legal notice to sue 11 U.S. manufacturers
of arsenic-treated wooden playground equipment. A successful lawsuit
would force manufacturers to either warn the public of risks posed by
arsenic or to stop using arsenic altogether..."
The New York State School Boards Association
http://www.nyssba.org/adnews/issues/issues022100.html
Issues in Education
"...Although playground injuries are one of the leading sources of
insurance losses such as settlements, judgments and legal costs, "It's
an exposure that can be controlled through a practical, sound safety
program," he said..."
The Star Ledger
http://www.icnj.org/SiteDocuments/News/11-18-2002/Schools%20ban%20p%20layground%20classics%20amid%20injury%20and%20self-esteem%20fears%20SL_11-18-2002.htm
"Schools ban playground classics amid injury and self-esteem fears
Monday, November 18, 2002
BY JERRY BARCA
Star-Ledger Staff
At 9, David Meltzer is something of an outlaw. He wants to participate
in illicit behavior specifically banned at Millington School in Long
Hill, where he attends fourth grade.
He likes to play tag.
"It shouldn't be banned. You're just running and tagging," he said
simply, as if explaining it to, well, a fourth-grader. "You can play
it with all your friends."
Without any boundaries, kids playing tag were darting through
hopscotch and basketball games, bumping into other students and ending
up in the nurse's office, Millington Principal Karen Wetherell said.
In an age of rising insurance premiums and increased angst over
physical and psychological trauma, seemingly innocent playground
classics are coming under increased scrutiny. Millington, in Morris
County, is not the first New Jersey school to ban tag, and dodge ball
is an absolute pariah in some circles..."
An excellent and informative Adobe pdf file at Childcare Law:
http://www.childcarelaw.org/Publications/dec2000.pdf
"PLAYGROUND SAFETY IN CHILD CARE CENTERS
BY DANIELA KRAIEM
The issue of safety hazards that may be present in outdoor play areas
in homes, parks, schools, and child care centers has gained prominence
in recent years. The federal government
ordered the promulgation of voluntary safety guidelines for
playgrounds in the early 1980s, and several states have adopted or are
considering regulations that include technical
specifications for playground structures.
Since most child care centers include outdoor play areas, they
should stay abreast of emerging legal requirements. Center operators
should be aware of technical advances in playground equipment and
surfacing that can reduce the incidence of injuries and the risk of
liability in the child care setting.
However, child care center playgrounds differ in several important
ways from settings for which safety standards may be tailored, such as
park and schools playgrounds that are open to the general public. For
this reason, center operators must also work to ensure that
regulations governing playground safety take into account the
particular circumstances of child care center settings.
Background
Several key documents set forth technical specifications for
playgrounds.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (“CPSC”)
“Handbook for Public Playground Safety” contains guidelines and
technical specifications for outdoor playground equipment, including
fall zones, surfacing, layout and design of playgrounds, manufacturing
materials, and playground operation and maintenance.
1 The American Society for Testing and Materials (“ASTM”)
publishes the “Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification for
Playground Equipment for Public Use,” which contains technical
specifications for materials and manufacture of playground equipment.
2 It is important to note that while these standards apply to
playgrounds used by children ages two to five, they were not developed
especially for child care centers. The Consumer Federation of America
publishes the Report and Model Law
on Public Play Equipment and Areas...."
Do read this article.
Church Business
http://www.churchbusiness.com/articles/341child2.html
"Ready! Set! Play!
The Playground of Your Childhood Doesn't Cut It Anymore
By Amy Campbell and RaeAnn Slaybaugh
Remember spending hours reaching for the sky atop a swing at your
favorite playground? Or enjoying the rush of skimming down a slide at
what seemed like lighting speed only to safely land in a soft pile of
sand? Maybe the monkey bars were your domain. Up there, you could see
the entire playground...
...Today's youth are, however, more sophisticated. Creating a
stimulating playground has become a challenge in itself. Competing
with technology isn't easy. Add to the mix the rising concerns about
sun exposure, and an increase in the number of handicapped students
who now are a part of the main student population.
Churches need innovative playgrounds that are accessible and safe,
while engaging the body and the mind.
Safety First
Whether you're building a new playground or revamping an old one, the
first priority should be safety. About 200,000 children are injured on
playgrounds every year, reports the National Program for Playground
Safety (NPPS), a nonprofit agency that serves as a clearinghouse for
playground safety information. It's not scraped knees or bruised
elbows, either. These injuries typically require a trip to the nearest
emergency room. "We're talking about broken bones, internal injuries
and head injuries," says Dr. Susan Hudson, the agency's educational
director.
About 17 children die every year from playground injuries. The NPPS
hopes to reduce those numbers through education and awareness.
Established by the University of Northern Iowa under a 1995 grant from
the Centers for Disease Control and Injury Prevention in Atlanta, the
organization sponsors an annual National Playground Safety Week
(slated this year for April 22-26); conducts ongoing research in the
area of injury prevention; and produces educational videos. The
organization also has keyed in on four areas to help reduce the number
of playground-related accidents: supervision, age-appropriate design,
surfacing and equipment..."
The National Association for Playground Safety does have a web site:
http://www.uni.edu/playground/home.html
You may wish to spend a good deal of time here looking at their
articles and resources. For example, this page on statistics:
http://www.uni.edu/playground/resources/statistics.html
"Each year approximately 205,860 preschool and elementary children
received emergency department care for injuries that occurred on
playground equipment.
76% of the injuries happened on public playground equipment
23% occurred on home playground equipment
Approximately 156,040 (75.8 %) of the 1999 injuries occurred on
equipment designed for public use; 46,930 (22.8 %) occurred on
equipment designed for home use; and 2,880 (1.4 %) occurred on
homemade playground equipment (primarily rope swings).
About 45% of injuries involving public equipment occurred in schools.
About 31% of injuries involving public equipment occurred in public
parks.
About 10% of injuries involving public equipment occurred in
commercial childcare centers.
About 3% of injuries involving public equipment occurred in home
childcare.
About 3% of injuries involving public equipment occurred in apartment
complexes.
About 2% of injuries involving public equipment occurred in fast food
restaurants.
About 9% of injuries involving public equipment occurred in other
locations.
From January 1990 to August 2000, CPSC received reports of 147 deaths
to children younger than 15 that involved playground equipment.
70% of those deaths occurred in home
30% of those deaths occurred in public use
Girls were involved in a slightly higher percentage of injuries (55%)
than were boys (45%).
Injuries to the head and face accounted for 49% of injuries to
children 0-4, while injuries to the arm and hand accounted for 49% of
injuries to children ages 5-14.
For children ages 0-4, climbers (40%) had the highest incidence rates,
followed by slides (33%).
For children ages 5-14, climbing equipment (56%) had the highest
incidence rates, followed by swings (24%)..."
Their links page also offers quite a few resources that should be of
interest to you:
http://www.uni.edu/playground/resources/links.html
One of the links is KaBoom, which has this interesting information:
http://www.kaboom.org/nooz.aspx?id=125
"Launching a Playground project? Check out the popular Getting Started
Kit and new Playground Planner!
4/29/2003
In search of great information to get your playground project started!
Well congratulations -- you've found it!
The KaBOOM! Getting Started Kit can be downloaded, free to any
community leader, parent or child-care provider who would like it to
support a community-led playground project.
The Getting Started Kit (or "GSK") contains great information on the
many factors to consider when planning a playground. Whether the
playground will be built by community volunteers, or developed through
purchases from qualified play-equipment and surfacing companies, the
GSK is a road map toward a well-thought play space for your children.
And, if your group sends KaBOOM! information about your project
through our free, online Playground Planner service, you will make
your group eligible for support -- technical, financial and people --
from KaBOOM! and its Funding Partners during your planning process..."
In an attempt to focus back on the financial exposure as mentioned in
your question, I located the following that talk of monetary
settlements on playground suits:
Abeyta Nelson Law Offices
http://www.abeytanelson.com/success.htm
"...SCHOOL DISTRICT HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR UNSAFE PLAYGROUND
A nine-year-old Ellensburg girl suffered a spinal cord injury when she
fell while hanging by her knees from a set of bars. Our photo
reconstruction showed that there was only four inches of wood chips
safety surfacing rather than the 12 inches recommended by national
playground safety standards. Our client, who lost all use of her legs
but retains some use of her arms, was confined to a wheel chair. A
lawsuit filed against the school district and the contractor who
oversaw installation of the playground resulted in a settlement of
$3.5 million. The settlement, the largest in the history of Kittitas
County, will provide a secure financial future for our client...."
Nadrich and Associates:
http://www.personalinjurylawcal.com/results-victories.html
$535,000 settlement for products liability of swing set for six year
old female child hurt when an outdoor playground glider knocked her
unconscious. Displaced femoral neck fracture resulting in a vascular
necrosis with ½" leg shortening. One surgery.
Regan, Halperin & Long, P.L.L.C
http://www.rhllaw.com/profile_long.htm
Among the jury verdicts and settlements of which Mr.Long is most
proud:
A six-year old child who fell from defective playground equipment.
$4.2 Million settlement.
Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler
http://www.rhhk.com/track.htm
Obtained a substantial settlement for a woman sustaining severe hand
injuries from defective playground equipment at an apartment complex.
Kiesel, Boucher and Larson
http://kbla.com/firm/previous.php
Poorly maintained playground causes injury to six year old child.
($1.6 million settlement)
The Rusk Law Firm
http://www.rusklaw.com/article5.htm
"Jury Urges McDonald's To Fix Playground Fences
Fall 1998
A South Carolina jury has publicly urged McDonald's Corp. to warn
customers that children can slip between the bars of the restaurant's
playground fences. The jury also urged McDonald's to modify all its
playground fencing so that the space between bars is four inches or
less.
The verdict arose from an incident in which a toddler slipped through
the bars of a McDonald's playground fence and ran toward a six-lane
highway. Unable to chase the child because the playground gate was
padlocked, the adult with her had to scale a six-foot fence. In the
process, he fell and hurt his knee, but managed to catch the
22-month-old just 50 feet from the highway.
The jury clearly wanted to make McDonald's fix the problem but
couldn’t legally require it. So, instead of making a large monetary
award, the jury insisted on a published recommendation about the
fencing and asked that the money be used to help pay for improved
fencing.
"Fencing often gives people a false sense of security," says Jeff
Rusk, who got a $6,000,000 settlement for two clients in 1992 after
their children slipped through a fence around a swimming pool in an
Austin, Texas apartment complex and nearly drowned. Both suffered
permanent brain damage.
"If the bars are more than four inches apart, a young child can easily
slip through," Rusk cautions. "Anyone who is counting on a fence to
protect children really needs to check it out with a ruler. Spaces
greater than four inches allow a child to get in -- or out. That means
you've got a tragedy waiting to happen, and they happen all too
often."
Kanter, Bernstein and Kardon
http://www.kbklaw.com/verdicts.html
"Unsafe Playground Equipment Causes Injury to Child
A 13-year-old boy fell from the top of a wobbly jungle gym at a
City-owned playground. The equipment was improperly installed and
anchored by a local civic group. The City failed to check the jungle
gym after its installation.
Our playground expert was ready to testify that not only was it unsafe
but that the ground was not adequately cushioned to prevent injury.
The child developed permanent scarring and weakness in his leg. His
orthopedic surgeon testified at deposition that the leg injury was
caused by impact with the hard surface. The case settled on the first
day of trial for $250,000..."
You can find dozens and dozens of cases like this by searching
playground +settlement +accident OR injury
Search strategy:
playground +lawsuit
playground +settlement +accident OR injury
I trust my research has provided you with interesting articles and
resources to aid you in the playground project and minimize any
liability this may present. If a link above should fail to work or
anything require further explanation or research, please do post a
Request for Clarification prior to rating the answer and closing the
question and I will be pleased to assist further.
Regards,
-=clouseau=- |
