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Autumn Family Safety Tips
Autumn is a brilliant time to get outdoors and get active, for all the family. But spending a lot of time outdoors comes with risks that don't affect your children when they're in the home. Here are several insightful safety tips to help you take care of your kids, and to help them to stay safe from potential dangers.
1) At the pool
- Never leave your children alone in or near the pool, under any circumstances.
- It's a good idea to put up a fence to separate your house from the pool. Most young children who drown in pools wander out of the house and fall into the pool. Install a fence at least 4 feet high around all 4 sides of the pool. This fence will completely separate the pool from the house and play area of the garden. It's best to find gates that self-close and self-latch, with latches higher than your children’s reach.
- Keep rescue equipment (such as a shepherd’s hook or life preserver) by the pool, and a telephone within close reach.
- Public swimming pools have trained attendants and lifeguards for a reason: they can save lives, because there is a danger of lives being lost. Anyone watching young children around a pool should learn CPR and the necessary First Aid skills to be able to rescue a child if needed. Try to stay within an arm’s length of your child.
- Remove all toys from the pool after use so children aren’t tempted to reach for them. Take great care to keep all electrical toys - and all electrical items - completely away from the pool.
- After the children are done swimming, secure the pool so they can’t wander back into it.
2) In the playground
- Always watch your kids when they're playing on climbing equipment: they'll need you there when they fall, and you don't want to be too far away.
- Always tell your children that they shouldn't wander away from the playground under any circumstances, and show them where you'll be sitting if they need you.
- Put a card with your mobile number and home address safely in your child's pocket. Tell them that if they get lost, they should ask a policeman or neighbour to help them call or find you.
- Watch out for strangers, and always intervene if you see your child speaking to someone you don't recognise.
- Take loads of water with you to the playground on a hot day: dehydration can occur without you realising it, when children are having fun.
- Always take suncream with you if it is sunny.
- Check for hot metal surfaces on equipment such as those on slides, which could cause burns.
- Take a supply of plasters and even a bandage or two, to patch up poorly knees and elbows if necessary.
3) At the barbecue
- Always explain to your children that a grill is off limits.
- When grilling with children, never leave a hot grill unattended, even for seconds! A child can get burned in an instant.
- Just like pots in your home, never leave pots on a grill or side burner with the handle sticking out. A small child could pull the hot pan and its contents on top of them.
- Be sure your grill is in good working order - explosions, fires, collapsing grills that spill hot coals over your family are things to avoid! Just take a few seconds before the barbecue to check that all is well.Follow manufacturer’s guidelines for checking gas connections and safety items.
- Remember, grills stay hot for a long time after you have finished cooking - remember to tell your kids that, too.
- It's an obvious one, but true none-the-less: always make sure meat is cooked right through before serving, and that it has been washed thoroughly beforehand. Take extra care that chicken is cooked: speak pieces to test their texture, or split open slightly to check their colour.
4) In the car
- Buckle up car seats and seat belts.
- Always use a car seat, starting with your baby’s first ride home from the hospital. Help your child form a lifelong habit of buckling up.
- Put your child in the back seat. It is the safest place in the car because it is farthest away from a head-on crash (the most common type of crash). The harness system holds your child in the car seat and the seat belts hold the seat in the car. Attach both snugly to protect your child.
- Children in rear-facing car seats should never be placed in a front seat equipped with an air bag.
- Children traveling alone to visit relatives or attend summer camp should have a copy of their medical information with them at all times.
- On hot summer days, ensure that a constant supply of air is available in the car.
- Take plenty of water to avoid dehydration, and painkillers to ease the pain if headaches do occur.
- Keep a First Aid kit in the car at all times.
- Make sure your children are wearing comfortable clothing that won't rub or scratch them during the journey, and that their seatbelts aren't too tight.
5) In the road
- Keep an eye on any games that your kids play in the road
- Warn them to stay away from cars, and to warn their friends if a car is approaching.
- Tell them to steer all their equipment, like bicycles, away from approaching cars
- Never let kids play ball games, like cricket, where there is a risk of breaking windows or hitting neighbours.
- Keep a First Aid kit in an easily-accessible place, show your kids where it is, and tell them how to use it if they fall over and get hurt.
- Warn your kids not to wander off too far from the house, in case they get lost.
- Tell your kids never to go into a stranger's house, or accept treats from anyone they don't know.
- Put a card with your mobile number and home address in your child's pocket, in case they get lost.
