Safety
Having playground equipment at your facility is a great way for children to get outside, run off some energy, and enjoy playing with other kids. To ensure your playground is safe and ready for use, inspect and maintain all equipment, not only in the Spring but on a regular basis.
The purpose of this article is to help you plan or make improvements to your playground. Use our Playground Safety Checklist to evaluate your playground, identify hazards, and fix them to reduce the likelihood of an injury. Another valuable resource is the Public Playground Safety Handbook published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Either or both of these documents will provide most of the information you need to make sure your playground is a safe and enjoyable place for the younger ones in your congregation.
Legality
From a legal perspective, playgrounds are typically called an “attractive nuisance” (a potentially dangerous condition on a landowner’s property that may particularly attract children onto the land and pose a risk to their safety). Knowing that playgrounds may attract children onto your property, the church has a duty of care to maintain the equipment in reasonable condition and eliminate any known conditions that could cause harm to children. Just another reason a routine inspection of your playground should be conducted.
For injuries that occur even during supervised events, churches have a duty of using reasonable care in the supervision of activities in which children are engaged. So long as they exercise reasonable care, they generally will not be negligent and therefore not directly responsible for injuries occurring to children.
