Child Safety Week 2016

Monday 6th June is the start of Child Safety Week 2016.

The theme for this year is ‘Turn off technology for safety’; focussing on how easy it is to become distracted by the ping of a text or email or when on the phone and whilst distracted a child could get injured.

HR policies in nursery or educational setting are likely to include non-usage of mobile phones etc. while at work, but there are plenty of other distractions around, so we’ve put together some interesting facts and easy actions to take to prevent injuries to children.

Burns

• Where possible keep children out of the kitchen;
• If you must allow them in at any point, push kettles to the back of the worktop and use the back rings on a hob;
• Hot drinks are the main cause of scalds for under-fives.  Your hot drink can still scald a baby fifteen minutes after it’s been made. Put hot drinks out of the reach of young children;
• Fill sinks/baths etc, with cold water first;
• Button batteries, if swallowed, can burn through a child’s throat and lead to serious internal bleeding.  Store batteries safely and take care when replacing them.

Choking

• Keep furniture away from blind cords and chains. Fit a cleat hook to tie blind cords and chains back;
• Young children naturally grasp things and put them in their mouths but don’t have the ability to pull things away. Store nappy sacks and other potentially hazardous objects safely.

Toxins

• Fit child locks on doors to cupboards where you store any potentially harmful products;
• Look for products with bittering agents such as Bitrex – they help prevent children swallowing products by making them taste really nasty;
• E-cigarette refills can contain nicotine which is highly toxic.  Keep well away from children;
• Fit a carbon monoxide alarm in every room where you have a gas appliance or fire.

Falls

• It’s more common than you might think for children to be injured on stairs when being carried by an adult who slips or trips.  Keep a hand free to hold on to the handrail when carrying children up or down the stairs;
• Fit stair gates to avoid falling;
• Fit safety netting to equipment like trampolines so children can’t be thrown to the ground.

Fire Safety

• Have a full fire escape plan in place and make sure everyone is full aware of it;
• Take care not to overload sockets;
• Keep keys to any doors on your escape route in one place and know where they are;
• Check your smoke alarms.  They save lives.  Ensure they are in every room necessary and test them every week.

For more information on this or any other aspect of Health & Safety, contact Citation today.