Taking your child to the park or playground for an afternoon can be a wonderful bonding experience. Additionally, it provides your child with the opportunity to get exercise outdoors and socialize with other children.
Unfortunately, the fun of an afternoon at the playground can be ruined by an unnecessary and preventable accident. Studies have found that approximately 200,000 children are taken to the emergency room every year in the United States because of playground injuries.
Parents can help prevent playground injuries by exploring a playground before allowing their child to play on that playground’s equipment. One of the most important features for parents to examine is the actual design of the surface on which the playground equipment is situated.
Surface Design Safety
When checking out a playground for the first time, there are several aspects of surface design that parents will want to look for. These include:
- The material of the playground surface should not be a hard or unforgiving material. Playgrounds that are surfaced in grass, concrete, or packed earth are very dangerous. If a child falls on one of these surfaces, there will be little support and they will likely suffer an injury.
- Playgrounds should be surfaced with safe materials like sand, mulch, wood chips, shredded rubber, or pea gravel. These materials provide a good cushion if a child should fall from playground equipment.
- The playground surface should be free of any dangerous materials such as broken glass or sharp pieces of metal.
- The material used on the playground surface should not be tightly packed to ensure maximum cushioning.
Contact Us
If your child has suffered a playground injury, contact the Minneapolis child injury attorneys of Terry, Slane & Ruohonen, P.L.L.C. today at 612-362-0000 to discuss your legal rights and options.
