Playgrounds should be about fun and excitement but sometimes they can be the scene of nasty accidents. From inadequate equipment to unidentified safety hazards and insufficient supervision, there are numerous reasons why playground accidents could occur, and while most of these can be remedied with ease, others could lead to serious injury or even death. In the summer months, when playgrounds are likely to be busier than at any other time of year with kids off school and enjoying the warm weather, the probability of an accident goes up.
Playground safety begins with the companies responsible for manufacturing equipment such as slides, swings, and roundabouts, as well as those tasked with the structural layout of the playground. If the equipment is sound and the playground is ideally structured, it’s then the responsibility of parents or supervisors to ensure that any children using the facility are not put at risk. You can teach a child right from wrong so that they won’t deliberately cause trouble in a playground setting but it’s the adult who still bears responsibility for what their child does. If the child is acting out of line, the parent or supervisor must intervene before the situation gets serious.
This infographic from Crowe Sawmills illustrates the importance of playground safety and what we all can do to make sure that our children are kept as safe as foreseeably possible from being injured at play.