Children’s Week Home Safety Audit

With over 60% of all child accidents taking place in the home, Kidsafe is urging Victorian parents to use Children’s Week to conduct a safety audit of their homes and backyards to remove dangers that may cause injury to their own and other peoples’ children.

“Kidsafe Victoria’s figures indicate that every year in Australia more than 16,000 children are hospitalised because of falls, 3,000 due to poisoning, 1,100 from scalds and burns and an estimated 1,300 from finger jams. In addition to these, more than 150 children are killed every year and 140,000 attend hospital emergency departments but are not admitted.”

Kidsafe especially urges new parents to identify hazards within their home with a safety audit before the new baby is brought home, and again before their child begins to crawl.

Professor Mark Stokes (Deakin University), President of Kidsafe Victoria, said the most common danger items found in the home were poisons, stairs, kitchens, blind cords, window and cabinet glass and doors, and backyard play equipment.

He said, “Parents need to be determined to reduce the potential for injury in and outside their homes, which results in 140,000 Australian children attending hospitals every year.”

The Kidsafe Hit List of danger areas in homes includes:

Kitchens - Unimpeded access to sharp objects, poisons, detergents, plastic bags and stove tops could cause poisoning, suffocation or burns.

Stairs - No barriers at top and bottom of stairs, or having too widely spaced balusters, could cause a child to fall and sustain serious head or spinal injury.

Blind cords - Blinds with looped or too long cords could strangle a child.

Window glass - Most houses built before 1985 do not have safety glass in windows which could cause serious or fatal injuries if a child impacted the glass. Glass within furniture (such as within a TV cabinet or coffee table) could also cause serious injury.

Doors - Children playing near or through doors could have their fingers severed if the door closes upon them.  Gaps between the door and jamb, particularly on the hinge side can cause serious crushing or even amputation.

Pool Gates and Fencing- If pools or spas are not fenced, children may drown. Check the gate closes and locks securely and that the fence is in good order with no objects stored against it that could allow children to climb over them. 

Backyard Play Equipment - All play equipment should have appropriate soft fall under it to prevent serious injuries such as head and brain trauma, and serious injuries to major organs and limbs.

Dr Stokes said that all of these dangers in the home could be easily and inexpensively rectified or modified, and that child injury can be prevented.