Dallas Daycare Negligence And Abuse Lawyer Wants To Inform Parents On Daycare Playground Injuries

How Frequent Are Playground Injuries At Daycare?

There are 200,000 children treated in the emergency department throughout the United States every year because of playground-related injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If that isn’t alarming enough, between 2001 and 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Commission investigated 40 deaths associated with playground equipment. In those, the average age of the child that died was only six (6) years old.

When is enough enough? Playground injuries to kids are preventable, so daycare centers must take a proactive approach to maintenance and safety. This approach will be extremely beneficial and greatly reduce the number of injuries at daycares worldwide.

What Do We Expect Daycare Centers To Do To Prevent Playground Injuries?

First, the daycare centers must ensure that the playground equipment is age-appropriate. Parents know to read about the equipment their child will be using. Some playground equipment and toys are safe for older kids, but not younger kids. There are not too many “one-size-fits-all” pieces of playground equipment. This means that daycare centers must have different sections of the play areas for different ages of kids. It is not a safe policy to allow young kids to play on playground equipment for bigger kids.

Also, the daycare centers must be aware of dangerous mixes with playground equipment. For example, 68% of all kids that died on playgrounds between 2001 and 2008 died from strangulation. One form of a dangerous combination is when kids are allowed to have jump ropes on or near the slides. 

Second, the daycare centers must protect the fall zones. Because kids are still working on their coordination and behavior with others, the surfacing of their play areas must be padded and soft. Most play areas should be padded with wood chips, sand, or mulch. Concrete play areas are not safe for young kids who are more likely to fall. 

We have seen some daycare centers put pads out there near the equipment. However, if those pads are not replaced and monitored frequently due to the weather elements, they become just as hard, if not harder, than concrete and present just as much danger. What ground cover does your daycare have?

Finally, the daycare centers must have a maintenance system. Every daycare center must have a routine maintenance system that involves regular safety checks, cleaning, maintenance repairs, and testing to ensure the equipment is safe for kids of all ages. Every daycare center must have a supervision system to ensure proper routine maintenance on the playground equipment. 

Contact The Button Law Firm After a Playground Injury at Dallas Daycare Centers

Our experienced Texas daycare injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm are dedicated to advocating for you and your family if your child was injured while in the care of a childcare facility anywhere in Texas. We are ready to listen and fight for your family to get justice and help you move forward. Our legal team at The Button Law Firm is recognized on the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list, and we can help guide you after a traumatizing incident involving your child. We work on contingency, meaning we don’t charge you or collect any upfront fees to get started on your case. Get a free case evaluation by calling us at 214-699-4409, emailing us at [email protected], or filling out a contact form.