Fire, medicine and water safety

Install a smoke detector; lock up poisons; keep an eye on your child around water.
  • Install a smoke detector and safety switch in your home. Prevent scalds by setting your hot water thermostat to 50ºC.
  • Lock up medicines and household poisons, including essential oils, matches, lighters and cleaning products.
  • Children can drown in 5 cm of water. Drowning can take less than a minute and is silent. Keep an eye on your child at all times around water.
 

Door, window and stair safety

Install safety glass; keep children safe around windows; use safety gates
  • Install safety glass in windows and doors. It’s a good idea to put stickers on glass doors at eye level to stop children and adults running into them.
  • Lock windows. Move chairs and other things away so children can’t climb up to windows. Mount TVs on walls or place them so they can’t fall on your child.
  • Put safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs and at the entrances to balconies.
 

Household hazards

Keep sharp or small items out of reach; keep blind and curtain cords short; keep emergency contact numbers near your phone
  • Store sharp items out of reach of children. Watch out for small items and foreign objects your child could swallow or stick into his nose, ears or eyes.
  • Chains and cords on blinds and curtains can be risky. Prevent strangulation by keeping them shorter than 5 cm – not long enough to wrap around your child’s neck.
  • Pin up emergency numbers and other useful safety contacts near the phone. You can read more tips in our article on making your home safe for your child.
 
 
 
 
  • Last Updated 25-11-2011
  • Last Reviewed 04-12-2011