MOORPARK : Playground Safety Signs Are Delayed

Moorpark city officials have been at least temporarily stymied in their effort to warn parents about potential dangers in the city’s playgrounds, the director of community services said.

After two accidents in the last year at two different playgrounds, the Moorpark City Council voted in August to put up warning signs near all city-owned playground equipment.

The signs would specify the minimum age for children using the different types of equipment, as suggested by the equipment manufacturers.

In addition to protecting children, the signs may help protect the city against possible lawsuits from any future accidents, said Director of Community Services Philip E. Newhouse.

But one of the two manufacturers of the swings and other equipment in the city’s seven playgrounds has balked at specifying age restrictions, Newhouse said.

BigToys, based in Olympia, Wash., is “hesitant to post that,” Newhouse said. “They want to suggest it by height, inches.”

The local representative of BigToys did not return a telephone call.

The city’s other supplier of playground equipment has suggested minimum ages for children using its products, Newhouse said, and the city does not want to post two different types of warning signs.

In the second of two accidents within the last year, a toddler suffered a broken arm after playing on a slide intended for older children.