Municipalities

Unique playground concerns for municipalities

A municipal manager told me this story; On 2 separate occasions the municipality had been sued due to a playground injury. In one case the injury had occurred 12 years prior to the suit being filed. In the other case the law suit was filed 13 years after the injury had occurred. In both cases the injured child was a high school senior at the time the respective law suits were filed. I’m guessing upcoming college tuition costs may have played a role in the lawsuits being filed. Whatever the reasons were there’s no doubt any municipality is a litigation target. Both cases were dismissed.

A common strategy that many municipalities employ is to depend on an insurance entity of some sort. In New Jersey, the home state of Playground Inspection Professionals, LLC, it’s estimated that upwards of 80% of the municipalities in the state are members of some form of self-insurance pool. Often times the pool will provide a free playground review service.

In the current financial environment it makes sense for a municipality to take advantage of a free service. However, there are some things you should consider if you are using a strategy like this.

• What does the insurance entity call their review? Is it a survey, an inspection or an audit?
• Does the resulting report carry a warning regarding the completeness and thoroughness of the report?
• In New Jersey the state law requires: “The facility manager and/or facility owner or agency responsible for administration of the facility shall certify in writing that any work performed complies with, and the facility is maintained in accordance with, all applicable provisions of this subcode and shall retain this certification on file.”
• Does the insurance entities report satisfy the above requirement?  Ask your insurance person.
• Does the report consider ADA requirements?
• The 2008 edition of the CPSC Public Playground Safety Handbook specifically states; “After assembly and before its first use, equipment should be thoroughly inspected by a person qualified to inspect playgrounds for safety” This is considered a compliance audit.
• Does your insurance entities work address the above requirement?  Ask your insurance person.
• Is the report photo documented?
• Does the report include an inventory for high frequency inspection purposes?

If you are responsible for the safety of children on your municipalities’ playground you are probably responsible for many other things. To have an insurance entity inspect your playgrounds and do it for free may seem like a great deal. Before you make this the mainstay of your Playground Safety Policy I’d like to provide the following quote by Scott Burton, CPSI and Expert Witness. The link to the entire article appears at the bottom.

“It matters little in this litigious world whether a standard is mandatory, a guide, a law or designated by any other term. It is considered the “standard of care,” and allowed to be admitted into a lawsuit as evidence. Individuals, whether employed and “protected” by their agencies (private), have a high level of exposure to being personally liable. Even though one may have “immunity” for a negligent act performed (or not) while employed, one may still be personally liable if that act is found to be grossly negligent. So pay close attention to the rules.”

http://www.northstarpubs.com/PRB308_Burton_Fencing.php