Everyone who has spent time with a toddler knows how curious they can be. Which is natural and to be expected, but what about all those brightly coloured cleaning products kept in easy reach, usually just under the sink?
Family safety charity The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is helping reduce the number of young children being injured by household cleaning products with a campaign, called Take Action Today. By reaching out to families with under-fives, RoSPA and frontline health workers, are helping to make sure that children across the UK are kept safe from accidental poisoning.
Launched this month in Rochdale, Halton, Bolton and Blackburn, the project follows success in areas across the UK including Liverpool, Birmingham, Bradford, Newcastle, Chester, Nottingham, Lincolnshire and Northern Ireland where over 300,000 families have been helped to prevent poisoning and eye injuries.
Figures for north-west England hospital admissions, for accidental poisoning of children under five-years-old, are higher than the national average.
RoSPA works in partnership with health visitors, early years workers, family nurses, school nurses, wellbeing advisors and those best placed to help children stay safe, happy and healthy, for the best start in life.
Ashley Martin, RoSPA’s acting public health adviser, said: “Due to their inquisitive nature, children under the age of five are most at risk of accidentally swallowing or getting household cleaning products, like liquid laundry capsules, into their eyes. Even products with a child-resistant closure cannot guarantee safety – they only reduce the risk by delaying access to the product.”
Take action today, put them away advice to parents includes:
• Store household cleaning products out of reach of children, preferably in a locked cupboard
• Always store chemicals in their original containers
• Never pierce or break laundry capsules or tablets
• Always close the lid of any product
• In the event of an incident, follow advice on the product pack and seek medical attention.
Further information on the Take Action Today campaign can be found here.
