Child Injuries: Playground Accident Liability
Children get scrapes and bruises all the time. But suppose your child suffered a serious playground injury due to unsafe equipment or lack of supervision. In that case, you have a right to seek compensation to cover your medical bills and other expenses.
The manufacturers and installers of dangerous and poorly designed playground equipment may be liable for your child’s injuries. Further, the playground owner may be liable for hazardous equipment that caused your child’s injuries. If your child was injured at a school or daycare center, the people who were supposed to provide adequate supervision may also be liable.
The State of California has strict rules and deadlines when you seek compensation for injuries caused by a public employee. If your child suffered a playground injury at a public school, you’ll want to speak with your Long Beach child injury attorney as soon as possible.
Keeping Playgrounds Safe
Playground equipment must be durable, hazard-free, and adequately maintained to keep your children safe. There must be sufficient ground cushion that extends at least six feet beyond the equipment to protect children when they fall.
Playground equipment is also subject to wear and tear, so old and outdated equipment must be replaced. The owner of the playground must ensure that equipment is inspected regularly.
Tripping hazards, sharp objects, and broken glass near the playground equipment must also be removed immediately. When the people in charge of a playground notice any hazard, it must be fixed or removed as quickly as possible, and children should not be allowed to play on damaged equipment until it is fixed.
Playground equipment with moving parts such as swings, suspension bridges, seesaws, and merry-go-rounds must be inspected to ensure there aren’t any mechanisms that could cause entrapment or crushing and pinching of a child’s limbs and fingers.
Common conditions that make playgrounds unsafe include:
- Sharp edges
- Inadequate guardrails
- Broken parts
- Tripping hazards
- Design flaws
- Inadequate cushion in fall zones
- Lack of maintenance
- Improper installation
- Hard surfaces
When Schools Are Liable for Playground Injuries
Everyone who works with children must be adequately screened and have the proper training to ensure a child remains safe at all times, including when children are playing. Public school and preschool teachers are certified and credentialed by the state. Teaching assistants at public schools must be fingerprinted and pass a background check conducted by the California Department of Justice and the FBI. Private school employees are also required to pass a background check, but private school teachers don’t have to be licensed by the state.
Everyone has a duty of care to avoid actions that may cause reasonably foreseeable harm to others. School employees who supervise children in playgrounds must always remain alert. A child engaging in unsafe play that may cause injuries to themselves or others must be removed from the playground immediately.
Schools may be held liable for playground injuries in the following circumstances:
- Failure to remove playground hazards
- Failure to intervene when children misuse equipment
- Lack of adult supervision
- Failure to fix or remove broken or dangerous equipment
- Allowing children to play on dangerous or broken equipment
- Failure to adequately train employees on playground safety
Helping Accident Victims in Long Beach for Over 20 Years
At The Law Firm of Joseph H. Low IV, our attorneys get justice for people who were injured by the negligent actions of others. We will investigate your child’s accident and file a claim or lawsuit against anyone liable for their injuries, including schools, playgrounds, and manufacturers and installers of hazardous equipment.
Joseph H. Low IV has a 10.0 Superb score from Avvo, an independent lawyer rating agency. Call our Long Beach firm today at (562) 901-0840 to schedule a free consultation.