Playground Equipment Firm Agrees To $40,000 Penalty

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Game Time, Inc., of Ft. Payne, Alabama has agreed to a $40,000 civil penalty to settle charges by the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission that the company failed to a timely report on a substantial product hazard involving merry-go-round playground equipment.

In a civil suit filed by the Justice Department for CPSC government alleged that as early as 1979, the company was aware that some children had sustained serious finger injuries while playing with the firm's "Pull-A-Round" merry-go-round playground equipment. Despite a statutory requirement to report such information to CPSC, Game Time failed to report the hazard until November, 1983. When the company submitted its report, the firm knew of ten finger amputations among children play with its equipment.

CPSC alleged that "Pull-A-Round" merry-go-rounds manufactured from 1975 to 1983 contained a socket head screw cap that could loosen and become dislodged during normal playground use. When the screw came off, it exposed a hole at the base of the shaft above the platform. Children placing their fingers in the hole were at risk; some fingers were amputated by the shearing scissoring action of the equipment when it was in use.

Game Times replaced socket head caps screws on all previously installed equipment with a spiral pin to eliminate the risk of injury. In the consent decree, the Game Time agreed to the civil penalty, but did not admit to the government's allegations.