Many major restaurant franchises provide adventure playgrounds for kids and a bright, welcoming play area is a great attraction when taking children out to eat. However, behind the colorful exterior of the child-friendly playground, hidden dangers could be lurking and kids could end up paying a high price if they do not take care when playing at some of these play zones.
Four years ago, a father took his eight-year-old son and younger sister to lunch at a fast food restaurant franchise. Straightaway, the young boy ran to the jungle gym and climbed up the horizontal poles of the play structure. However, he suddenly lost his grip, fell off the play tower and came crashing down on to the tiled floor. The boy suffered a traumatic brain injury and he has been left with lifelong disabilities. Today, at twelve years old, he has the maturity of a child half his age and has severe emotional and cognitive problems.
The boy’s family claimed that the restaurant franchise knew that the jungle gym was dangerous, as previous accidents had taken place, but they had never bothered to fix the problem. The family also claimed that the playground had major safety hazards, such as a lack of “no climb netting” and insufficient floor cushioning. They said that poles used daily by children as monkey bars were not safeguarded by the restaurant franchise and that warning signs were not posted.
The boy’s parents sued the owner of the restaurant franchise, arguing that the company was liable under the principles of “ostensible agency”. In layman’s terms, this means that the parents reasonably relied upon the franchiser and its restaurant branding to ensure that they were offering a safe product. The family’s attorney remarked that families do not come into fast food restaurants with any playground safety expertise and that they rely on the restaurant franchise to ensure a safe product for their children to play. An out-of-court 20 million dollar settlement was finally reached with the family. The multi-million dollar settlement will pay for the child’s enormous medical bills, round the clock care and ongoing rehabilitation therapies. Amazingly, four years after this accident, the playground in question remains unchanged.
The fast food restaurant franchises argue that they are not responsible for safety because they hire independent companies to build the play structures. They also stress that parents should properly supervise their children when using the play equipment. Each restaurant chain is, however, responsible for self-policing its playground safety. Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission has a list of guidelines and regulations, it has been argued that there are insufficient staff to enforce the rules.
The bottom line is: don’t expect anyone to be watching your kids. If there are notices indicating that the restaurant is not responsible for injuries, then it is down to the adults to supervise. The National Program for Playground Safety has stated that a lack of supervision results in 40 per cent of playground injuries. Make sure children are on age-appropriate equipment, be sure that there is plenty of soft surfacing under and around the structure. Only allow the permitted number of children to play at the same time and check that the equipment is tight against the wall to prevent strangulation. So take note and supervise your children at all times at restaurant franchise playgrounds.
Tags: adventure playgrounds, fast food restaurant, fast food restaurants, jungle gym, monkey bars, playground safety, restaurant franchise, restaurant franchises, safety expertise, traumatic brain injury