Swing set injuries can be serious. Head injuries and broken bones are common with such playground injuries. In case your child is a victim of such an accident, here are three questions that will determine the liable party or parties.

1. What Caused the Injury?

In any type of injury claim, the cause of the injury is the central theme for liability determination. Here are some of the ways in which swing sets cause injuries:

• Someone slips out of the swing and falls.
• The swing set breaks and sends a user flying into the ground.
• A swing strikes a passerby (for example, a child running past the swing set) and causes them serious injury.

On the surface, all of these can look like accidents. However, an accident investigation can reveal the true cause of the accident. For example, it might be that:

• The child fell out of the swing because they were too young for the equipment.
• The swing broke because the manufacturer used inferior materials.
• The swing struck a child because the swing was too close to another playground installation.

Therefore, you need to investigate the true cause of the accident so that your claim can target the right party.

2. What Was the Child Doing On the Property?

You should also determine what the child was doing on the property. The determination will establish whether the child was an invitee, licensee, or trespasser. This will help to determine the level of duty that the property owner owed to the injured child.

For example, if the child was on the property at the request of the property owner, then the law will treat the child as an invitee. An example is if a neighbor calls over a child to help with an errand, and the child ends up injured.

However, the law will treat the child as a trespasser if they were illegally on the property. In this case, the property owner may be off the hook as long as they can prove that they took reasonable precautions to keep kids away from the swing set.

3. Who Was Caring For the Child?

Minors need adult supervision at all times. The younger a child is, the more supervision they need. Therefore, you need to establish who was caring for the child at the time, and what they did or should have done to prevent the accident.

Consider the example of a playground accident where the teacher supervising the kids gets distracted by their phone. In this case, the supervisor may also be liable for the child's injuries. 

For more information, reach out to a personal injury attorney at a firm like Winstein, Kavensky & Cunningham, LLC.