Parenting ~ Home Safety

Child injury accidents are often heard of, and children under 12 years of age are most likely to be injured with an adult present, and children under 6 years of age are injured with an adult present in more than 80% cases, and more than 90% of them are parents! Why do children still get hurt when there are adults around? Bai Lu, Secretary General of the Society, pointed out that the lack of awareness and vigilance of adult caregivers and the unsafe environment and facilities are the main reasons.

The most common cause of injury in children under 12 years of age is falls (39%), followed by strikes (28%). Due to media reports, it is generally assumed that the majority of child falls are from falling off a building, when in fact it is more common for children to fall on the same plane (64%); similarly, the most common impact injury is not from being hit by an object, which is more commonly reported in the media, but rather is from a child moving too fast and hitting an object (67%). More than 50% of these injuries occurred at home, and as many as 75% of children under the age of 6 were injured at home, indicating that home safety still needs to be strengthened.

Section 32 of the Child and Juvenile Welfare Act states that a child under the age of six shall not be left alone. Data shows that the number of cases of children being left alone at the time of injury has decreased, but if the adult caregiver is with the child but is actually doing his or her own thing, the child is still left unattended. Therefore, it is important for adult caregivers to fulfill their duty of care.
In order to make your home a "safe home", you need to grasp the following principles:

1. Anti-skid flooring to prevent falls and injuries - Do not use smooth tiles on the floor at home. Wooden floors, carpets or non-slip mats can prevent slips and falls, and even if they do occur, they will not be seriously injured. The floor should be kept clean and fresh. Don't leave toys and other objects scattered on the floor, and don't place electrical wires across the floor to prevent children from tripping.

2. Protective pads, corners and edges should be added to doors, windows, drawers, furniture with sharp edges, walls and columns to prevent children from being pinched or hit. Installation of protective netting for fans can prevent children from inserting their fingers into the fan and getting strangled.

3. Safely lock dangerous objects - closets, cabinets, refrigerators, and clothes dryers at home should be closed and locked at all times to avoid suffocation of young children after they enter and cannot get out; small items such as coins, small batteries, buttons, and other toxic substances such as medicines, detergents, or pesticides, as well as scissors, knives, needles, and other sharp objects should be stowed out of the reach of children or collected in locked cabinets to avoid infarctions, poisonings, or cuts and puncture wounds to children, or cuts and puncture wounds.

4. Containers with lids - large containers such as buckets and tubs filled with water or other liquids and flush toilets must be covered to prevent young children from falling in and choking; food containers (e.g., beverage bottles, pots and pans, etc.) must not be used to hold medicines, detergents, etc. to avoid accidental ingestion; and garbage cans must be covered to prevent young children from coming into contact with discarded hazardous materials.

5. Installation of detection of escape easy - home garage or door if the iron roller door or electric door, must be installed detectors, as long as the door can be detected at the entrance of the object immediately and stop continue to close, in order to prevent people from being clamped; indoor should be added to the carbon monoxide detector and smoke detector, can be in the carbon monoxide into the room or fire occurred to strive for more time to escape.