When you drop your child off in the care of teachers at the school or a daycare center, you assume that your child will be properly supervised and that the playground equipment will be safe, in good-working order, age-appropriate, and designed to minimize the occurrence of potential falls and injuries. After all, isn’t it their job to watch over and protect the children who are placed in their care?

An experienced Arizona child injury attorney knows that playground accidents and injuries don’t just happen at schools and daycare centers. Accidents can happen when a parent takes a son or daughter to play in the local park or when a child plays with a neighbor in the backyard. An Arizona child injury attorney also knows that it isn’t necessarily a supervision problem that results in playground accidents. Defective designs, faulty manufacturing, and improper installation procedures can render playground equipment dangerous and the source of serious child injuries.

Arizona Child Injury and Safety Attorney Discusses the Dangers of Playgrounds

Nothing strikes terror in a parent’s heart more than news that his or her child has been injured and is in the emergency room after a serious playground accident. With children under the age five, injuries to the child’s face and head are more likely to occur during a playground incident. With children over the age five, injuries to the child’s extremities occur with greater frequency. Playground accidents commonly result in fractured bones (arms and legs), soft-tissue injuries, and lacerations. Unfortunately, playground accidents can also result in traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries . Any of these injuries can be severe, life-altering, and even life-threatening.

Most children’s injuries from playground equipment involve falls, so ensuring that the equipment is at a safe height given the age of the children using that playground is a safety essential. But there are many problems that can render monkey bars, swings, ladders, slides, merry-go-rounds, rings, jungle gyms, and playground equipment in general unsafe. Failing to replace or remove damaged playground equipment is certainly a safety concern for children. Maybe the school, park, or childcare facility decided to cut back on its expenses by skipping regular inspections or delaying necessary repairs, a painfully inadequate excuse for endangering any child’s health and safety. Maybe the school, park, or daycare facility did not have the appropriate shock absorbing surface under the playground equipment.  Perhaps the playground equipment had inappropriate platforms without guardrails or protective barriers.  Maybe the accident involved playground equipment that is not recommended for use on public playgrounds including:  Trampolines, Swinging Gates, Giant Strides, Climbing Ropes, Heavy Metal Swings, Multiple Occupancy Swings, Rope Swings, or Swinging Dual Exercise Rings and Trapeze Bars.

Holding Responsible Parties Liable for Child Accident Victims

Whenever a child’s playground injury is the result of negligent supervision, defective equipment, dangerous playground conditions, poor maintenance, inappropriate use of materials like asphalt, cement, or hard-packed dirt, to name only a few possible hazards, the parties responsible should be held accountable and fairly compensate the injured party’s family.

There are a couple myths regarding playground child injury cases that need to be dispelled. First, some parents believe that if their child was injured while using the equipment inappropriately that there can be no recovery – this is absolutely not so. Although the value of the ultimate recovery may be affected, there still can be a potentially valid legal claim for compensation depending upon the circumstances of the incident.  This is especially true of facilities that do not have sufficient staff supervising to protect against misuse for the number of children at the play area.  Second, other parents may feel guilty and hold themselves responsible for allowing their child to play on the unsafe equipment in the first place – please do not let this guilt dissuade you from holding those responsible for the defective equipment accountable on behalf of your and other children. Holding the individuals, bureaucrats, and corporations that created the hazardous playground environment responsible and accountable not only helps your injured child and family recover, but also protects other children because your claim is a powerful deterrent against continued dangerous acts or omissions with respect to playground safety concerns.

When the Playground Becomes an Accident Scene

Arizona child injury and safety attorney Shane L. Harward has the experience you need to get fair and just compensation following your child’s playground injury. He has been fighting for the rights of Arizona’s injured children since 1995. When it is your child who has been injured, don’t delay – call 480.874.2918 today. When you need compassionate representation and aggressive advocacy from an Arizona child injury attorney, contact the Law Offices of Shane. L. Harward.