Iowa Playground Safety and Prevention Strategies

Almost one-third of all playground fatalities and about 75% of playground-related injuries happen on public playgrounds, such as school playgrounds, city parks and community playgrounds, according to Safe Kids USA. And, about 40% of these incidents occur during May, June and September.

Because Iowa playground accidents and injuries occur often, parents of children should know prevention strategies in order to reduce their child's chances of being injured by playground equipment.

Some prevention strategies you should keep in mind include:

• Separate Age-Appropriate Playgrounds: Look to see if there are separate age-appropriate playground areas for the different age groups of children. Educate your children on the different playground equipment that is and isn't acceptable for their age groups. Sadly, there are only 42% of playgrounds that have separate areas for children 2 to 5 and 5 to 12. 
• Adult Supervision: Inform your children that there always needs to be an adult on the playground watching them play. Increasing adult supervision on playgrounds can reduce the number of playground injuries in Iowa and throughout the nation. 
• Protective Surfaces: Look to see if there are wood chips, shredded rubber, sand or energy-absorbing materials under and around the playground equipment that will reduce injuries related to falls. If there are not the appropriate protective surfaces, do not allow your child to play on that playground equipment.

By doing these things, you will be able to reduce playground injury risks to your children. However, even if you have done everything you can to keep your kids safe your child may have still been injured in a Cedar Rapids playground accident.

If your son or daughter was injured by defective playground equipment or the lack of protective surfaces or supervision, please call the law offices of Brady & O'Shea at (319) 866-9277 to speak with a skilled Iowa product liability lawyer in a free legal consultation today.