Kidsafe Open Day - a timely reminder

To realise the importance of home safety you need only talk to a parent. Most parents are very aware of some of the potential dangers for young children around the home. Backyard swimming pools, kitchen appliances, hot water, stairs and electricity are just some of the things around the home that are potential safety hazards for young children.

To help parents and carers recognise a wide range of safety issues, Kidsafe House at The Children's Hospital at Westmead is holding an Open Day this Saturday 27 October from 10am to 3pm.

The Kidsafe House is an invaluable resource for anyone who has children in or around their home. It looks like a typical family home but has some special design features. There is a kitchen, bathroom, laundry and nursery and in each room visitors can view information relevant to the hazards that may be found there.

You can see displays on hot water scalds, locks, poisons, finger jams, nursery furniture, choking falls and lounge room settings - relevant information for parents, grandparents, students, child care workers, babysitters etc.

Most homes are not safe enough for children. Injuries are the biggest health problem our children face. They are more common and deadly than any disease or child abuse. It is our youngest children who are most at risk, in fact, half of the children injured are younger than five years old and more than half of these injuries occur in a home setting.

The summer season is coming up with daylight savings allowing more hours of healthy, safe play for children. Parents should encourage this and where possible join in play with their children. This has many benefits, including the fact that supervision of play reduces the risk of accidents.

With the coming summer months also come particular dangers, the biggest of all being in the swimming pool. After seeing three near drowning episodes recently, The Children's Hospital at Westmead is all too aware of the dangers of backyard swimming pools.

The key message regarding backyard swimming pools is that it is essential that it is fully fenced on all four sides (at least 1.2 metres high) that cannot be climbed by children and has a self-closing, self-latching gate. When buying or selling a property be very mindful of the need for proper fencing around a backyard pool by avoiding the purchase of a property with inadequate fencing and by ensuring that any property you sell has proper fencing installed and maintained.

Other important home safety tips to consider are:

• Have your children been taught a safe way of crossing the road?
• Can your garden shed be locked at all times?
• Are blind and curtain cords out of reach?
• Can your hot water be turned down to 50 degrees celsius to prevent scalds?

You can learn more about these and other important home safety tips at the Kidsafe Open Day, Saturday 27 October from 10am to 3pm at the Kidsafe House located behind the multilevel carpark at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, cnr Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead.

For all media enquiries, please contact:

Jennifer Duncombe
Kidsafe Program Manager
Ph: (02) 9845 0890