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Safe
PLAY IT
More than one million
children under the age of 15
are taken to A&E each year
following accidents in or
around their home.
According to the Royal Society
for the Prevention of Accidents
(RoSPA), your child is most
likely to have an accident in the
living or dining room but the
most serious injuries occur
unsurprisingly in the kitchen
and on the stairs.
The good news is that most
of these accidents are entirely
avoidable.
Read on to see how you
can help prevent mishaps
at home.…
Go on a crawl
Children learn by exploring
so the best way to discover the
hidden dangers at home is to
get down on your knees and
seeing your house from your
toddler’s viewpoint. Keep an
eye out for heavy, delicate and
dangerous items that might
topple over from shelves and
lighter objects that could easily
fall over if pushed.
Always ensure that power
sockets have safety covers
and that you have securely
fixed stairgates at the top and
bottom of staircases.
Be careful of burns
The most common cause
of burns in children under
the age of five is hot liquid;
a hot drink can still scald a
child 15 minutes after you’ve
boiled the kettle, while hot bath
water causes the most fatal
and severe scalding injuries
amongst young children. To
keep your child safe don’t:
• hold a hot drink and your
child at the same time
• leave your child alone in
the bathroom, even for a
few seconds
• leave hot drinks within
easy reach
• run hot water into a bath first
- always start with cold
• use the front plates on your
stove unless necessary
• leave curling tongs, a hot iron
or hair straighteners in easy
reach.
It is both a sad and scary fact
that most fatal and non-fatal
accidents that befall children
do so in the home. However, there
are easy ways to keep your little
ones safe and sound.
Top Toys
Most toys are age-labelled
but it’s good to know what
to look out for, just in case.
Remember:
• babies put everything into
their mouths so avoid small
things that they could either
swallow or choke on, such as
buttons, coins, stones, etc
• check that teddies and dolls
don’t have easily removable
parts
• look at the labels on toys to
see that they are suitable for
your child’s age
• very noisy toys could damage
your baby’s hearing.
FURTHER
INFORMATION
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
www.rospa.com
Oxfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards Department
www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards
Child Accident Prevention Trust
www.capt.org.uk
Emergency family first aid - 2 hour courses held in local
communities in Oxfordshire: www.thamestraining.co.uk