Essential Guide to Child Safety at Home
Keeping children safe is of utmost importance for all parents, carers and those responsible for childcare. In this post we look at how our homes are where most accidents take place and provide some valuable, actionable checks and tips you can follow to improve child safety at home.
Why is Child Safety So Important?
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) tells us that our homes are where most accidents take place and in every year, across the UK, 6,000 people lose their lives as a result of home accidents.
Statistics indicate that people over the age of 65, particularly those older than 75, along with youngsters under the age of 5, are the highest risk groups.
Falls account for the majority of non-fatal child accidents in the home. And breathing related issues such as suffocation, strangulation and choking cause the highest number of child deaths.
Statistics show that children aged between 0 and 4 years old experience the highest number of accidents in the home and boys are more likely to be involved in an accident than girls. It is also notable that children from poorer backgrounds are five times more likely to die as the result of an accident than children from better off homes.
Paying attention to child safety in the home helps ensure that children don`t suffer what can be life-changing injuries from accidents. Importantly, it also serves to educate youngsters in what it takes to make environments safe and the precautions they can take to manage their own safety.
Child Development Stages
As noted, very young children (babies and toddlers) are at the greatest risk. Older children are more likely to sustain fractures than younger children and younger children tend to experience more burns, scalds and ingestion related accidents including poisoning.
There are many reasons why children tend to be more accident prone than adults. One of the main ones being their lack of experience and knowledge of the physical world. Children can also often be immersed in their own worlds and might be oblivious to the hazards they run into around the home.
Children are naturally inquisitive, prompting them to take risks and possibly disobey safety instructions. Their small stature is another important factor that can result in them being knocked or tripped over by an unobservant adult. Their small size combined with curiousity is what can prompt them to reach for items they can`t clearly see from surfaces (such as hobs) above their heads.
As a child grows they need to explore their physical capabilities and learn where their limits are. Some like to show off and maybe go a bit too far, putting themselves and their playmates at risk of injury. Inadequate supervision and observation is often cited as a cause in cases where children have ingested toxic substances, medicines, pills or even batteries.
When considering how to improve home safety for children its always important to be aware of their stage of development and make certain suitable precautions and processes are in place for what?s coming next. Its also important not to overlook their playmates who may be of different ages and at various stages of child development.
Child Home Safety Checklist and Tips
It is worth remembering that most accidents in the home are entirely avoidable. Taking a little time to firstly assess where risks exist and then implement safety improvements and raise awareness is strongly recommended.
General child home safety tips:
- Ensure children are supervised and observed at all times.
- Make certain floors are free from trip hazards such as toys and other obstructions
- Install door finger guards for all doors
- Avoid using table mounted high chairs.
- Never leave babies unattended on raised surfaces
- Never put baby bouncers on raised surfaces.
In the following sections we have broken down our home safety checks and tips based on areas and environments in your home.
Throughout Your Home
Here are some basic child safety checks that apply to all areas throughout your home.
- Ensure all floor coverings are secure with no trip hazards.
- Put childproof barriers in place to prevent falling down the stairs.
- Protect electrical outlets and switches with childproof covers.
- Prevent nasty finger-trapping accidents by installing door finger guard protectors.
- Remove all poisonous or potentially harmful plants.
- Make certain all fires, heaters or fans are protected with appropriate guards.
- Securely attach all items of furniture that could potentially fall to walls?
- If your home has any flame-burning appliances fit carbon monoxide alarms.
- Test and verify all smoke detectors are working (weekly).
- Use door finger guards to prevent nasty finger trapping accidents.
- Move all low furniture away from windows to prevent toddlers from attempting to climb out.
- Consider investing in child proof window locks.
- Use lockable window restrictors to prevent windows from being opened wide (especially on upper storey windows).
- Make certain your escape route, in case of fire, is kept clear and everybody, including children, knows where to go.
- Never smoke inside the home, even when children aren?t present.
- Remain vigilant and fix any aspects of deterioration that could become dangerous.
Child Safety in the Bathroom
Children love to play in the bath - and in bathrooms. But hot water and wet floors make bathrooms hazardous environments. Follow these tips and checks to improve your bathroom safety.
- Never leave a child unsupervised in a bath or around water.
- Ensure all bathroom cleaning products are securely locked away out of reach.
- Make certain any bathroom electrical appliances (e.g. electric razors) are safely unplugged?
- Keep the toilet seat down to discourage children from playing in the loo.
- Empty the bath water as soon as you have finished bathing your child (don?t leave the water in the bath).
Child Safety in the Bedroom
While children?s bedrooms are not generally dangerous environments its important to be aware of a few basic checks to make.
- Make certain there are no cords or ribbons that can be reached by a child (such as for curtains or blinds).
- Ensure the child can reach their toys without having to climb.
- Make certain all toys are in good condition with no broken or lose parts.
- Make certain toddlers / babies cots are in good condition with cot rails between 50mm and 85mm apart.
- Don?t use raised beds or bunk beds for toddlers. Bunk beds should only be used for children aged 6 and over.
- Use bed guards to prevent children from falling from their beds.
- Only use furniture with no sharp corners or edges in children?s bedrooms. If necessary, fit guards.
Child Safety in the Kitchen
Kitchens are recognised as one of the most hazardous household environments, especially for children. They see their parents and carers busily making meals and doing chores in the kitchen and they naturally want to emulate them. Follow our tips to make your kitchen safer for children.
- Install a safety gate to keep your toddler out of the kitchen.
- In addition to smoke alarms, install a fire extinguisher or a fire blanket.
- Be highly aware of how small toddlers might reach up to a table or surface to grab a cup or saucepan. Keep hot food and drinks away from edges.
- Always use the rear burners or rings on a hob whenever possible as this keeps the cooking food away from the edge.
- And always ensure that saucepan handles are turned inwards so that they can?t be grabbed or inadvertently knocked.
- Never hold or carry a child while handling hot food or drinks.
- If a toddler uses a high chair always secure them in place using a harness and never leave them unattended.
- Make certain all knives, breakable glass objects, heavy pans and other dangerous kitchen items are securely out of reach.
- Consider installing childproof safety locks on doors, drawer and cupboards.
- Keep rubbish bins in safe locations and consider using childproof lids.
- Avoid using tablecloths and placemats as these can sometimes be pulled by an inquisitive toddler, risking injury from whatever is on top of them.
- Unplug all kitchen appliances when not in use and keep them out of reach.
- Consider providing small children with their own kitchen cupboard to act as a distraction from the areas they are not allowed to access.
Child Safety in the Living Room
Living room environments are generally shared but of course its important to prioritise the safety of little ones. Here are some useful child safety tips for your living room.
- Prevent children from touching hot radiators by using appropriate guards or furniture.
- Use living room furniture without any sharp edges or corners. If this isn?t possible, protect any sharp edges with appropriate guards.
- Make certain all cords and ribbons are out of reach.
- Hide electrical cords or contain them in appropriate cable concealment systems.
- Endeavour to keep the floor free from clutter and trip hazards.
- Prevent toddlers from climbing on furniture where they could fall off.
- When people are visiting, make certain their handbags and other personal items are always out of reach from curious little fingers.
- If you have any clear glass doors - prevent children (and others) from bumping into them by marking them with colourful stickers.
- And always ensure that interior glass is safety glass.
Child Safety Outdoors
The child safety checks and tips provided so far have focused on the interior spaces in our homes. But its important not to overlook outdoor areas including gardens, patios and balconies.
- As for other areas of the home - always ensure that young children are fully supervised when playing outdoors.
- Make certain there are no pesticides, garden chemicals, growth boosters or any other substances within reach of children.
- If the outdoor area includes ponds or other potential drowning hazards, ensure these are protected and children can?t fall in.
- Always monitor the state of toys and outdoor play equipment. Remove any damaged or dangerous toys.
- Remove trip hazards from pathways and other areas where children like to race around.
- Make sure that any garden statues, birdbaths, feeders and other structures are robust and firmly fixed in place.
- Remove all poisonous or hazardous plants, especially from areas alongside pathways and where children play.
- Look out for branches and shrubs that could potentially cause eye injury and trim them back.
While we have endeavoured to cover all of the primary areas of risk related to children around most homes its important to consider the specific requirements of every environment.
If you have any questions about home safety and security or if you have any special requirements remember that we are here to help. Give us a call on 01273 475500 and we?ll provide you with free, expert advice.
This message was added on Thursday 10th March 2022
.png)
