Click here for a Site Map

Child Safety Month 2008 -
August 2008. more

First United Nations Global Road Safety Week 23 – 29 April 2007 (PDF) Click here

Choosing a swimming teacher - a guide for parents Click Here

First Aid for Burns: What to do. Graphically presented.
Click here (PDF)

Watch That Child! -
Child safety is no accident. more

Safety Tips (English) - Points to note around the house - graphically presented. click here

Safety Chart (English) - Savlons Family Safety Chart - graphically presented. click here

Children in the Western Cape are extremely vulnerable to injuries, both deliberate and accidental. South African children grow up in an environment where they are exposed to high levels of risk at home, on the road, at school and at play.

June month is Child Safety Month. As the convention of the Rights of the Child state, children have a right to a safe environment. We as adults, caregivers and parents have to take responsibility and make sure that our children, learn, play and grow up in a safe environment without the threat of being hurt.

With National Child Safety Month, the Child Accident Prevention Foundation (CAPFSA) and other stakeholders aim to raise awareness and promote actions that will reduce the unacceptable high rate of childhood injuries and death. This health month is set aside to remind people that childhood injuries are preventable and that keeping children safe is not just due to “good luck”.

How safe is your child? Your child could drown in a bucket of water, or in a waterlogged vacant lot across your street, let alone an unguarded swimming pool; he could be burnt by hot water or even suffer serious injury being run over as a pedestrian on the way to school. According to the latest Medical Research Council report from a total of 5506 deaths occurring in 2003 in Cape Town, at least 3926 were due to non-natural causes such as transport collisions, violence, suicide and other unintentional injuries. At the Red Cross Children’s Hospital some 10 000 children are treated annually for preventable injuries.

This all sounds very grim, and you will immediately wonder, surely I can’t keep my child in a padded room or in a glass cage! No, this is neither practical nor desirable. Indeed, children should be allowed to have some mishap from time to time, as it is unavoidable and an integral part of growing up, but there are simple ways to prevent fatal or other serious accidents. The Child Accident Prevention Foundation do not aim to make parents neurotically dread every potential misfortune, but rather urge parents to develop automatic safety habits when there is danger of death or serious disability, for example as caused by a car accident.

CHILD SAFETY MESSAGES

WATCH YOUR CHILD AT HOME!

Unfortunately the home, which is the one place where children should feel safest, is the most common place for young children to be injured. Young children are, by nature, curious as this is a normal and healthy part of childhood development and learning. While parents worry about their children’s safety away from home, they often forget about the safety of their own home.

Every home with young children should be childproofed, by assessing the hazards that can cause injuries. The Child Accident Prevention Foundation advises adults to assess the home for hazards on your hands and knees, as this is the level at which small children live. As children grow older the home should be evaluated and assessed for hazards.

The home can be a place full of hidden hazards that can seriously injure children. Watch children as they play, there is no substitute for careful supervision.

Safety tips at home

• Lock all dangerous household items such as cleaners, medicines and pesticides in a secure place out of children’s sight and reach.
• Only purchase, potential toxic substances, in child resistant containers if available.
• Always run the cold water first when running a bath. Hot water burns like fire.
• Set your hot water cylinder to a safer temperature of 50 degrees Celsius.
• Guard against electrical shock by disconnecting electrical appliances when not in use and use safety plug covers.
• Make use of smoke detectors and have an emergency escape plan in your home.
• Keep all hot objects and hot fluids out of reach.
• Make sure small children are never alone near water such as a bath, swimming pools, dams and rivers. Always supervise them as drowning can occur in a few seconds.
• Restrict access to swimming pools by the use of a pool fence or a pool safety net.

5 Golden Rules of Home Safety:

1. Teach everyone in your home the emergency telephone numbers and keep them next to the phone.
2. Read all package inserts, labels and instructions. Follow all instructions listed by the manufacturer.
3. Attend a first aid course and ensure that anyone who is caring for your child does the same.
4. Identify potentially unsafe objects, products and situations in and around your home and make them safe.
5. Never dismiss your child for reporting potential dangers in an around your home. Reward them for their quick thinking and get them involved in safety!

WATCH THAT CHILD AT SCHOOL!

Approximately 20% of children treated at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital Trauma Unit annually sustain injuries at school. Although schools are safer than many other places in communities, children still suffer injuries from falls, playground injuries, sport injuries, violence and walking or cycling to and from school. There are many ways that these injuries can be prevented.

Schools have a responsibility to prevent injuries from occurring on school property and at school related events. In addition schools can teach learners the skills needed to promote safety and injury prevention at school, at play and at home.

Safety at school is the responsibility of everyone, staff, learners, parents and the community at large. Effective school based injury prevention efforts should address policies and procedure, staff development, the physical environment of the school and the curriculum.

Safety tips at school

• Children are only physical and emotionally ready to cross the road ‘safely’ at the age of 8 years. Young scholars should therefore not walk to school on their own. If parent cannot accompany children to school then walking groups should be promoted.
• The safest route to and from school should be looked for and each parent should accompany his child on that route until he is sure that the child knows it, i.e. bus routes, cycling and walking.
• Always make sure that your child is visible when walking or cycling to school especially now in winter months when it is still dark as children walk or cycle to school. Children should wear reflective clothing. For example reflective strips on school uniform, rain jackets, school bags, school shoes, bicycles and helmets. The Woolworths schoolwear range has reflective strips on many of its schoolwear items and accessories, including school bags, school shoes, schoolwear rain jackets, schoolwear anoraks and selected jackets for younger boys and girls.
• Helmets are compulsory for all cyclists. Small children especially children up to 10 years of age are extremely prone to head injuries as their heads are heavier compared to the rest of their bodies. Make sure your child’s helmet fits correctly and that it is always tied securely.
• Most car accidents happen close to home. All children should always wear a safety belt when travelling in a car to and from school and also when making use of lift clubs or on school/sport outing when parents assist with transport. This is law.
• We must set good examples for our children in traffic situations, children learn best by imitation.
• Children should always wear appropriate protective gear when taking part in sports activities such as mouth guards, shin guards, etc. Teach children the importance of safety equipment.
• Bullying amongst children often lead to greater prolonged violence, and affects learners ability to learn and achieve at school. Preventing and responding to school bullying is essential and schools should have an anti-bullying policy in place. Parents are their children’s first teachers. Discuss bullying behaviour and how hurtful it can be to others with your child at home. Urge children to tell an adult when they are being bullied.

PREVENTION IS THE BEST CURE!!!!

For more information on child safety and free safety leaflets contact the Child Accident Prevention Foundation. Tel. (021) 685 5208.
E-mail:

______________________________________________________________
WOOLWORTHS SUPPORTS CHILD SAFETY MONTH