Child Safety Week runs from Monday 24 June to Sunday 30 June 2013. Child Safety Week is the Child Accident Prevention Trust’s flagship annual community education campaign, raising awareness of serious childhood accidents and how to prevent them, without wrapping children in cotton wool.
It aims to raise awareness of the number of accidents that seriously injure or kill children every year and the steps we can take to help prevent them.
The theme for this year's Child Safety Week 2013 is “be a Safety Hero”. Make a pledge to make little changes at home to make a safer environment for your children and family.
Many children that go to hospital with a burn or scald needing more treatment, often having a slow and painful recovery which can even be left with permanent scars. Children can suffer burns from hair straighteners, irons, cigarettes and cooking equipment.
Many accidents can be prevented in just a few seconds, just by moving a dangerous item out of children’s reach.
Some easy and simple steps to making your home safer-
- Never hold a hot drink and a child at the same time
- Never leave young children alone in the bathroom
- Put hot drinks out of reach and away from the edges of tables and worktops
- Keep small children out of the kitchen whenever possible
- Lower the temperature of your hot water system to 46°C or fit a thermostatic mixing valve to taps
- When running a bath turn the cold water on first and always test the water temperature before letting a child get into the bath
- Always use rear hotplates and turn the pan handles away from the front of the cooker
- Keep hot irons, curling tongs and hair straighteners out of reach even when cooling down
If a fire breaks out at night, having a working smoke alarm can make a real difference to your chances of surviving.
Having a fire escape plan ensures that everyone gets out of the property and meets in a place of safety away from the fire.
