It’s common knowledge that playgrounds, though fun, are also fairly dangerous places for kids to be spending their time. Accidents happen all the time – kids falling off the monkey bars, colliding with each other, skinning their knees… The list goes on.
Because of this, many parents have tended to assume that slides are one of the safer options on the playground. They can at least catch their children at the bottom, and all slides have at least a low border on both sides to keep the rider from falling out halfway through.
What parents might not realize, however, is the hidden danger of some metal slides.
Playworld, a company that manufactures metal slides for many playgrounds around the country, is now issuing a recall on many of their metal slides. In some of their products, a crack has begun to form between the slide bed and the sidewall.
Though small, the crack is still large enough for children’s fingers to get caught, get cut – or even get amputated.
Thus far, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has reported hearing 13 different reports of kids getting cut on the slide, two of whom had their fingers amputated.
The slides in question were made between November 2000 and October 2016, which makes it incredibly difficult for anyone to track precisely where these dangerous structures might be located.
Until the CPSC makes further progress in removing or replacing these faulty slides, it urges all parents to closely inspect any metal slides at the playgrounds they frequent to protect their children from these dangers.
