The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has recalled about 900 Slalom Glider playground slides after 16 children have reportedly been injured. According to the recall notice, this playground slide does not have a transition platform at the top or chute sides, posing a major fall risk to children.
Without the chute sides, children are forced to wrap their legs over each side of the slide and hold onto the edges behind them to stay balanced and not fall off while going down the slope. However, even gaining balance on this equipment is difficult because it lacks a transitional platform to help children get into a stable position on the structure.
Children reach the top of the 6-foot high piece of equipment by climbing an arched access ladder made of tubular steel. The slide itself is made up of a curved piece of molded plastic. Of the 16 injured children under the age of eight reported to CPSC, 14 suffered arm and leg fractures, one sustained a fractured collar bone, one was left with a bruised spleen, and one had a bruised arm.
To identify these products, consumers can look at their model numbers, which are 156456 and 172627. They were available for purchase as an attachment to other playground equipment or as an individual piece. They were also available in a number of color combinations, like red, blue, tan, green, granite, and white.
Landscape Structures Inc. is the Minnesota-based commercial playground equipment manufacturer of the recalled slides. CPSC notes the company has fully cooperated with this voluntary recall. According to their website, this company’s playground equipment can be found in over 50,000 locations worldwide.
These slides were manufactured in the United States and sold to schools and other playground locations across the country from January 2006 to December 2011. They were sold for about $2,300.
The CPSC recall notice advises consumers to immediately keep children from playing on the recalled slide. The consumer safety resource explains that owners of the slides will be contacted by Landscape Structures with specific removal instructions. Customers will then have the option of “replacing the Slalom Glider with another piece of playground equipment, receiving a refund, or receiving credit towards a future purchase,” CPSC explains.