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Prevention of deaths and injuries using safety devices
March 2004
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A fence surrounding all four sides of swimming pools, with self-closing and self latching gates, can prevent child drowning in swimming pools. |
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Use smoke detectors on every level of your home and near bedrooms to alert you to fires. Smoke detectors are essential safety devices for protection against fire deaths and injuries. |
Injury is a serious public health problem because of its impact on health, including premature death, disability, and the burden on the health care system.
Like diseases, injuries are preventable as they do not occur at random. The same scientific methods to prevent injuries that have been used to prevent disease can be used to prevent injuries: Carefully describing the problem through surveillance, studying factors that increase or decrease risk for injury, designing and evaluating intervention strategies that target these risk factors, and taking steps to ensure that proven strategies are implemented in communities nationwide.
The public health community has the experience as well as the public and
private partners necessary to research, develop, and communicate effective
methods to prevent injury. Injury prevention
strategies focus primarily on environmental design (e.g., road construction
that permits optimum visibility), product design, human behavior, education,
and legislative and regulatory requirements that support environmental and
behavioral change.
Public health efforts to prevent injuries must be
intensified in order to be more successful.
Many lives can be saved because of improved
motor vehicle and highway design, increased use of safety belts and
motorcycle helmets, and enforcement of laws regarding drinking and driving
and speeding. Similar results are possible with other types of injuries.
The U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that consumers purchase
and use the following safety devices to help prevent deaths and injuries
associated with hazards in or around the home:
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About 2-1/2 million children are injured or killed
by hazards in the home each year in the United States. The good news is
that many of these incidents can be prevented by using simple child safety
devices on the market today.
Any safety device you buy should be sturdy enough to prevent injury to your
child, yet easy for you to use. It's important to follow installation
instructions carefully. In addition, if you have older children in the
house, be sure they re-secure safety devices. Remember, too, that no device
is completely childproof; determined youngsters have been known to disable
them.
You can childproof your home for a fraction of what it would cost to have
a professional do it. And safety devices are easy to find. You can buy
them at hardware stores, baby equipment shops, supermarkets, drug stores,
home and linen stores, and through mail order catalogues.
Here are some child safety devices that can help prevent many injuries to
young children.
| Use safety latches and locks for cabinets and drawers in kitchens, bathrooms, and other areas to help prevent poisonings and other injuries. |
Safety latches and locks on cabinets and drawers can
help prevent children from gaining access to medicines and household
cleaners, as well as knives and other sharp objects.
Look for safety latches and locks that adults can easily install and use,
but are sturdy enough to withstand pulls and tugs from children. Safety
latches are not a guarantee of protection, but they can make it more
difficult for children to reach dangerous substances. Even products with
child-resistant packaging should be locked away, out of reach; this
packaging is not childproof.
| Use safety gates to help prevent falls down stairs and to keep children away from dangerous areas. |
Safety gates can help keep children away from stairs
or rooms that have hazards in them. Look for safety gates that children
cannot dislodge easily, but that adults can open and close without
difficulty. For the top of stairs, gates that screw to the wall are more
secure than "pressure gates."
Use new safety gates that meet safety standards and that display a relevant
certification seal. If you have an older safety gate, be sure it doesn't
have "V" shapes that are large enough for a child's head and neck to fit
into.
| Use door knob covers and door locks to help prevent children from entering rooms and other areas with possible dangers. |
Door knob covers and door locks can help keep children
away from places with hazards, including swimming pools.
Be sure the door knob cover is sturdy enough not to break, but allows a door
to be opened quickly by an adult in case of emergency. By restricting access
to potentially hazardous rooms in the home, door knob covers could help
prevent many kinds of injuries. To prevent access to swimming pools, door
locks should be placed high out of reach of young children. Locks should be
used in addition to fences and door alarms. Sliding glass doors, with locks
that must be re-secured after each use, are often not an effective barrier
to pools.
| Use anti-scald devices for faucets and shower heads and set your water heater temperature below 49 degrees Celsius to help prevent burns from hot water. |
Anti-scald devices for regulating water temperature can help prevent burns. Consider using anti-scald devices for faucets and showerheads. A plumber may need to install these. In addition, if you live in your own home, set water heater temperature below 49 degrees Celsius to help prevent burns from hot water.
| Use smoke detectors on every level of your home and near bedrooms to alert you to fires. |
Smoke detectors are essential safety devices for protection against fire deaths and injuries. Check smoke detectors once a month to make sure they're working. If detectors are battery-operated, change batteries at least once a year or consider using 10-year batteries.
| Use window guards and safety netting to help prevent falls from windows, balconies, decks, and landings. |
Window guards and safety netting for balconies and
decks can help prevent serious falls.
Check these safety devices frequently to make sure they are secure and
properly installed and maintained. There should be no more than four inches
between the bars of the window guard. If you have window guards, be sure at
least one window in each room can be easily used for escape in a fire.
Window screens are not effective for preventing children from falling out of
windows.
| Use corner and edge bumpers to help prevent injuries from falls against sharp edges of furniture and fireplaces. |
Corner and edge bumpers can be used with furniture and
fireplace hearths to help prevent injuries from falls or to soften falls
against sharp or rough edges.
Be sure to look for bumpers that stay securely on furniture or hearth edges.
| Use outlet covers and outlet plates to help prevent electrocution. |
Outlet covers and outlet plates can help protect children from electrical shock and possible electrocution. Be sure the outlet protectors cannot be easily removed by children and are large enough so that children cannot choke on them.
| Use a carbon monoxide (CO) detector outside bedrooms to help prevent CO poisoning. |
A carbon monoxide (CO) detector can help prevent CO poisoning. Consumers should install CO detectors near sleeping areas in their homes. Households that should use CO detectors include those with gas or oil heat or with attached garages.
| Cut window blind cords; use safety tassels and inner cord stops to help prevent children from strangling in blind cord loops. |
Window blind cord safety tassels on miniblinds and
tension devices on vertical blinds and drapery cords can help prevent deaths
and injuries from strangulation in the loops of cords. Inner cord stops can
help prevent strangulation in the inner cords of window blinds.
For older miniblinds, cut the cord loop, remove the buckle, and put safety
tassels on each cord. Be sure that older vertical blinds and drapery cords
have tension or tie-down devices to hold the cords tight. When buying new
miniblinds, verticals, and draperies, ask for safety features to prevent
child strangulation.
| Use door stops and door holders to help prevent injuries to fingers and hands. |
Door stops and door holders on doors and door hinges
can help prevent small fingers and hands from being pinched or crushed in
doors and door hinges.
Be sure any safety device for doors is easy to use and is not likely to
break into small parts, which could be a choking hazard for young children.
| Use a cordless phone to make it easier to continuously watch young children, especially when they're in bathtubs, swimming pools, or other potentially dangerous areas. |
Cordless phones help you watch your child
continuously, without leaving the vicinity to answer a phone call. Cordless
phones are especially helpful when children are in or near water, whether
it's the bathtub, the swimming pool, or the beach.
Bibliography:
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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