Autumn safety guide: Top tips for keeping children safe
As the leaves start changing colour and the nights begin to draw in, new hazards emerge. So, here are our top tips for keeping children safe from serious accidents this autumn.
Be Bright Be seen
The longer nights and low sun can make it harder for drivers to spot pedestrians. This often means more casualties, especially children. So, remember:
- Be safe, be seen. Encourage children to wear bright clothing during the day and reflective clothing or accessories after dark
- Teach children to cross at places that are well-lit and, where possible, to cross the road at a pedestrian crossing
- Remind older children who travel by themselves that it’s harder for drivers to see them
- Devices can be a major distraction, so encourage your child to put them away and take any headphones out while crossing the road
Halloween hazards
Halloween can be an exciting time of year for children, dressing up and going out after dark. But, whilst Halloween is supposed to be spooky, there are some horrors families will want to avoid. From highly flammable Halloween costumes that could see your child go up in flames, to easy-access button batteries in decorations and LED candles, get to know the risks so you can keep your child safe.
Fireworks
With Bonfire Night and Diwali approaching, it’s the busiest time of year for fireworks displays. But it’s important to keep safety in mind. Remember,
- If you can afford it, organised displays are much safer
- Only use fireworks that are suitable for the space you have
- Keep children at a safe distance from the display
- Sparklers burn at a very high temperature so need to be treated with caution. Wear gloves and keep it at arm’s length.
- If clothing does catch fire remember to STOP, DROP and ROLL
Hot soups and drinks
As the weather gets colder there’s nothing better than warming up with a nice hot drink or steaming bowl of soup. But these can cause devastating burns to children. In fact, your hot drink stays hot enough to scald your young child’s delicate skin for 15 minutes after it’s been made.
So, whether you’re getting your daily caffeine fix or warming up with a soup, remember to:
- Keep hot drinks and food out of reach
- Move kettles to the back of the worktop
- Use the back rings of the hob first and turn pan handles in
- Avoid passing hot drinks or food over children
Check your hot water bottle
Before the chill really sets in, now is a good time to check your hot water bottle for signs of wear and tear.
Rubber deteriorates over time so old hot water bottles can break and cause serious burns.
The age of your hot water bottle, using boiling water, overfilling it and even storing it incorrectly can all contribute to its deterioration.
And remember, if you froze your hot water bottle in the hot weather to keep you cool, it is no longer safe to use with hot water.
Is your electric blanket still safe to use?
As we head towards the colder months now is a good time to check your electric blanket is safe for continued use.
Your blanket needs to be replaced if:
- It’s more than ten years old.
- The fabric is worn or frayed.
- There are scorch marks or discoloration.
- Wires are poking through the fabric.
- There is damage to any part of the electrical cord.
- The control is making a buzzing sound when switched on and/or is giving off a smell.
- The connector fitted to the blanket is damaged or over-heating.
Test your carbon monoxide alarm
As families start to battle over whether it’s too early to turn the heating back on, it’s a good time to think about carbon monoxide (CO) safety.
The highly poisonous gas can kill quickly and without warning, as you can’t see it, taste it, or smell it. It can leak into our homes when a boiler, gas hob, or wood burning stove has been incorrectly fitted, badly repaired or poorly maintained.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to keep your family safe:
- Fit a carbon monoxide alarm which will sound a warning if there is carbon monoxide in the air. Remember to test it regularly.
- Get your gas appliances checked by a registered gas engineer.
And whilst you’re at it, test your fire alarms too
It’s important to test your fire alarms regularly all-year round. But as we head into the colder months, there are more fire hazards… Freshly restarted heating systems, unserviced chimneys, electric heaters near flammable items and overloaded plug sockets to name just a few. So test your fire alarms. And remind a friend or family member to test theirs too.
Watch out for easily accessible button batteries
Whether you’re buying light-up decorations for Halloween, flashing wands for Bonfire Night, cheap stocking fillers for Christmas or LED candles for the darker nights, the chances are you’ll be tempted to buy something powered by a button battery.
But did you know that if a small child swallows one and it gets stuck in their food pipe, it can burn through the tissue and cause life-altering injuries or death? You might not even know it’s happened until it’s too late.
That’s why it’s important to check all products that come into your home to make sure the button battery compartment is secure with a screw or similar fastener.
If the back is not secured or the button battery is easily accessible, the product needs to be kept out of reach of young children.
