Child injured at Country Park

[YOUSEECOLOURS]

Just after a few others views as I'm not sure how I feel about this but my preschool aged daughter was visiting a local but fairly large country park last week with her grandparents. There was an outdoor 'storytime' area which included a bench made out of a plank of wood on top of two wooden posts, this was was also surrounded by other children's stepping stones etc. She went to stand on the bench (I do appreciate it's a bench not a climbing frame before that is commented on) but the plank hadn't been attached to the posts and so the end that she didn't stand on flipped up and hit her in the face. Her chin and inside her mouth were bleeding lots but her teeth seemed OK at the time. I noticed tonight though that two of her front teeth are visibly very loose and leaning. I plan to call the dentist first thing and really hope they don't fall out as shes only little but would others complain to the park or is that too much? Her grandparents did get it logged in the incident book at the time but the staff apparently didn't seem too bothered. It just seems that it isn't very suitable for the area it was in or should have had some form of warnings?

As you say it’s a seat not to stand on. Unusual not to be fixed down but check facts carefully

If it's a seat how can they be at fault for her standing on it?

People are so judgmental on here. It should have been properly attached.

I would like to point out... I'm not after any thing from them, I just don't want this happening to another child who might not be as lucky to get away with just losing their teeth prematurely....

Whilst she shouldn't have been standing on it 1)small children climb on stuff, and 2)I'm not convinced it would be safe if sat on awkwardly, so there probably is a problem at their end.

Definitely let them know so it doesn't happen again

urgh Neither of us posting having judged anything. Just pointed out it’s a seat / bench. I said check facts first too.

I don't think it should have a warning that would be stupid, but it obviously should be repaired/fixed so I'd follow up that has been done (was the plank of wood meant to be fixed or is it just a plank of wood placed there?).

"Her grandparents did get it logged in the incident book at the time but the staff apparently didn't seem too bothered'.

I'd email explaining what happened and that you hoped that it can be fixed so this doenst happen to anyone else. Unfortunately the staff probably didn't care or connect the dots

The staff on site might not have been, but anyone who understands about risk /liability/insurance would sit up and take notice.

So email head office (often a local authority or similar?) look for their details for a contact for claims/complaints ideally

I worked in a related field and anyone with their head screwed on would take swift action to inspect and remedy the issue

@YOUSEECOLOURS Hope your DD is ok!!
I used to work in a Country Park type place and was responsible for guests and dealing with injuries etc. If this situation had come in to me then the bench would have been secured within minutes. I would have radioed through to the grounds staff about the incident and they would have made any adjustments necessary to ensure it was safe.

I would follow up with them and just say that you’d like some reassurance that it has been secured to prevent injury to anyone else

There’s a duty of care here. Could it be reasonably expected that a visitor could/would stand on the ‘seat’? Yes, it should have been securely attached. I would lodge a formal complaint, so that the management become aware/are required to respond. I’d say they’re lucky that there hasn’t been other injuries.

Is it definitely meant to be a fixed seat? If it's just slices of logs and the odd plank I just wonder if it might be intentionally free form so kids can sit in a circle but also use the pieces as stepping stones or ramps etc.

I hope your daughter's teeth are ok, that must have been scary and sore. If in doubt no harm in raising it - they can only make decisions based on what they are told about.

Definitely say something that sounds quite unsafe.

Let it go.

Agree. If it flipped when she stood on one end, then it could also have flipped if she had sat one one end.

OP - Definitely take it further, just to prevent a similar incident. I'm not usually one for complaining but this was a disaster waiting to happen. It doesn't matter that she wasn't meant to stand on it. It should be secured.

My daughter had a similar tooth injury when she was a toddler, only her tooth was bashed in so far it was almost horizontal. Awful. Anyway, the dentist said there wasn't much to be done but that it might be fine - and it was! It went back to it's normal position over a few weeks and she's now got her adult teeth and the one that's in place of the bashed one has a tiny white mark but that's the only long term impact. So don't panic, her teeth might be totally fine.

I don’t have anything to add about the bench but just to tell you anecdotally, my Dd jumped headfirst off a bunk bed at age 3 and somehow landed tooth first! Her front two top teeth were wobbly for a good month or so! She went to the dentist and he said they would most likely settle back in if they weren’t ready to come out, she’s 5 now and still has them. Hopefully your DD’s will resettle!

If it was part of 'official' equipment rather than a random plank placed there by a visitor, it sounds dangerous, whether it's used as a bench or not. The staff might not care but somebody higher up definitely should. Find out who that is (maybe someone at the local council?) and write to them.

YANBU to be upset and to follow up her Grandparents report by complaining yourself by email to the Country Park. Even in the guise of just checking it has been fixed. Hope your daughters teeth recover - especially because she’s very young they might well settle back by themselves but it’s always best to check with the dentist.

Many preschool age kids stand on seats, even when told not to, it can sometimes be difficult to stop them before they have already climbed up -so the bench not being securely attached is just asking for an accident to happen imo (especially if it’s right next to childrens stepping stones- many younger kids might continue the game by unthinkingly climbing up).

It's complaints like this that ruin things for everybody else though.

You complain, the park gets the willies about potential lawsuits and people standing around doing compo face for articles in the local paper, and then decide to remove all the benches and storytime area all together.

Normally I'd agree but not in this instance as someone sitting on one end could also unbalance it and someone could get hurt. It's hard to make a proper judgement as we're assuming it's a seat and meant to be sat on

Totally disagree. That would be a huge overreaction on their part. They just need to make the bench safe.

If they get decent advice they will know that as long as they follow required rules around design/inspection/maintenance they will be able to defend any claim

If they don't install it properly, or don't inspect and maintain, then quite rightly they could be liable.

A decent playground owner will welcome the complaint because it will enable them to tighten up their inspection and maintenance regime before a worse accident happens