Fries and Fun: Restaurant Playgrounds

To children, fast-food restaurants are what dreams are made of. There they can find fabulous food, cool toy giveaways, and great playgrounds. However, parents need to closely monitor their kids as they climb, slide, swing, and have fun.  

Here's why. In settlement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission fast-food marketer McDonald's agreed to pay the government $4 million for failing to report more than 400 injuries to children at its playgrounds nationwide. Most accidents occurred on "The Big Mac Climber," a metal, hamburger-shaped platform that McDonald’s has now removed.

After a six-year-old fell from a slide at a Texas Dairy Queen playground and fractured his skull, attorneys for his parents sued, claiming the company knew of the unsafe conditions. Their research demonstrated that Dairy Queen executives knew full well about the danger but had lied to investigators and concealed documents that showed their awareness. The trail judge found Dairy Queen in contempt of court and ordered the company to pay more than $100,000 in sanctions.

So how can parent protect their children at restaurant playgrounds?

• An adult should supervise all play and assist in emergencies.
  
• Encourage children to play on equipment designed for their ages.
  
• Safety-inspect ground surfaces for hardness or hazards such as broken glass or other sharp objects.
  
• Check ladders, steps, platforms, handrails, ropes, barriers, and swings, slides seesaws, and merry-go-rounds, looking for sharp edges, loose connections, missing parts, and other dangers,
  
• Report and repair all hazards.