Safety 1st is the message to reduce child accidents at home
Wednesday, June 28 2006
Parents of young children are to be offered free home safety checks as part of a new, multi-agency pilot scheme to reduce the number of child accidents in the home.
Safety equipment such as stair gates, fire guards, changing mats and childproof containers will also be provided and installed free to families who are unable to afford them or fit them themselves.
The new pilot, Safety 1st, comes from the Home Safety Working Group of the Community Safety Forum, and builds on a hugely successful joint campaign between the Safety Forum and Lothian & Borders Fire and Rescue Service to cut the incidence of house fires.
Safety 1st will supply and install a range of safety equipment, and provide safety information aimed particularly at first-time parents who may not be aware of the risk of injury to children in the apparent safety of the home.
Under the pilot, health visitors will go through a simple safety checklist with parents of children under five years old. The checklist includes questions about heating, fire guards, smoke alarms, stair safety gates, child car seats and locks on medicine cabinets. Health visitors will also distribute booklets on child safety such as the Scottish Good Egg Guide to keeping your child safe at home.
Accidental injuries are the commonest cause of death in children over the age of one in the UK, and most of these accidents occur in the home. More than 500,000 children a year under the age of five are taken to hospital in the UK following an accident at home, including some 600 children from the Borders since 2004.
And the numbers are rising:
"The Community Safety Forum has become aware of an increase in the number of people at home sustaining injuries which have required medical attention either at their local hospital or the Borders General hospital," explained Steven Irvine, Community Safety Officer for Scottish Borders Council. "It is not yet clear why there should be this increase, but anecdotal evidence from professionals working with families suggests that lack of awareness amongst some adults may be part of the problem. The key theme of this initiative is to alert householders to potential dangers and to show them how to avoid accidents.
Launching the Safety 1st initiative at Langlee Primary School in Galashiels, Scottish Borders Councillor Patricia Purves, Chairman of the Forum's Home Safety Working Group, said, "We need to take practical action now to reduce the number of children who are dying or being injured by accidents at home. It is the simple things like change mats (to prevent babies rolling off change tables), stair gates and child-safe containers that can make the difference."
The pilot will be reviewed in six months.
" The Scottish Borders Community Safety Forum is an active multi-agency partnership whose remit is to make the Scottish Borders a safer place to live, work and visit. Its partners include Scottish Borders Council, NHS Borders, Lothian & Borders Police and Lothian & Borders Fire and Rescue Service. The campaign is supported by Lothian and Borders Road Safety Unit and the Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT).
For more information, please contact Steven Irvine, SBC Community Safety Officer. Tel: 01835 825058.
Unified Solutions.