Home safety precautions

Did you know that half of all childhood accidents happen in the home?

That is quite a sobering and scary statistic, don’t you think?.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Being alert to potential safety hazards and taking some simple precautions can help to minimise the risks and hazards within the home.

Each year approximately a staggering about 1.6 million accidents involve children!

These statistics equates to around 5000 children every day needing to seek medical attention and 170 odd of these being admitted to hospital.

Half of all accidents occur at home, most of them are involving children under 5 yrs.

The main accidents and injuries are falls, poisoning, burns, and bites but it is not limited to these. Accidents that result in death are drowning, fire, choking, suffocation and poisoning.

Supervision and good practices are the best preventative measures.

That said it is important to be mindful that we can’t prevent every accident but we can put measures in place and be alert to things to help reduce the possibility of accidents and injuries.

• Make sure poisons, cleaning chemicals and medicines securely placed in a high cupboard or locked away.
• Keep doors closed, i.e. dishwasher, and don’t let them play near, around or in any appliances. (It does happen!) etc.
• Power points, electrical plugs, etc should be covered.
• Have a circuit breaker for emergencies if possible. All new homes are fitted with one. If you live in an older home it is a good investment.
• Keep cords out of reach.
• Keep hot liquids away and turn the handle for saucepans and cooking utensils’ on the stove.
• Keep plastic bags out of reach.
• Don’t let children climb, jump, walk on furniture.
• Never leave any water around as children can drown in 5 cm’s of water. Ensure baths are empty. Check all outdoor items after rain making sure there is no water in toys outside, etc.
• Test the bath water before they get in to make sure it’s not too hot. Run the cold water last so the tap is not hot if it is not a mixer tap.
• Use stair gates or similar so no falls down stairs.
• Prop doors open or closed.
• Be aware and mindful of toys and make sure they are appropriate to child’s age.
• Check toys regularly.
• Never leave a child alone with an animal.
• Be sun safe aware to avoid sunburn.
• Check each room regularly to make sure no new hazards have arisen.
• Have a list of emergency numbers and an emergency contact in place. It’s advisable to have an emergency plan in place.
• Model/teach children good safety.
• Teach children the emergency number. Teach children when to use it and how to respond in emergencies.
• Keep utensils and sharp objects, lighters, glass, etc out of reach.