Fireman Sam stars in child safety week

Child safety week is an annual initiative created by the child accident prevention trust. The aim is to raise awareness for parents and teachers to avoid serious accidents with children over the summer holidays. Thankfully for children if they were to suffer any injury in the summer which was a result of negligence when out and about (even under the supervision of an adult) there are options available for parents to protect their children.

The safety week however aims to reduce any chances of injury claims needing to be made by keeping children out of harms way as much as any adult can. Specific focuses include regular situations children will find themselves in during summer, at the swimming baths, at family barbeques, at the seaside and travelling on trains.

To help with the initiative, child safety week often finds a figurehead to motivate children to listen to the key instructions. This year is the turn of popular children’s TV star Fireman Sam.

Each year there is (among the usual warnings) a theme promoting a specific aspect of child safety. 2016’s theme is “Turn off technology, tune into children”. With so many electronic devices in our lives it can often be easy to become distracted from risks not only out and about but in our own homes too. Downloading the 2016 poster (available here) highlights some of the now common risks such as crossing the road while listening to music, not paying attention to goings on around the house while on your mobile/tablet or not having safe wires/plug sockets fit for children to be near.

Fireman Sam’s involvement as a spokesperson is backed up with a range of resources including videos and posters. Some of Sam’s top tips for safety week (and all summer) include:

Around Water:

• Always walk when you are near a swimming pool, never run
• Never push anyone into a swimming pool
• If you are swimming in the sea, never turn your back to the sea – this will prevent you from seeing big waves coming towards you
• Take care when paddling and swimming in the sea as the water can get deep very quickly
• Always ensure you have a responsible adult with you when paddling and swimming in the sea

At BBQs

• Always leave lighting a barbeque to a responsible adult
• Ensure you keep your barbeque a safe distance from trees, bushes and anything else that may catch fire before lighting it
• Make sure that your barbeque is placed on a flat surface so it stays in place once it’s lit
• Always stand back from a barbeque and keep a safe distance whilst it is in use

Travelling:

• Stand back from the edge of the platform at the railway station and never push anyone whilst on the platform

If you’d like to get involved with Child Safety Week, there are plenty of ways to go the extra mile by downloading a pack with all the details of how to take part. This could be especially useful to members of school councils and teachers for resources.

Many companies with a vested interest in children’s safety participate; from leisure centres (DW Fitness) to public transport companies (Virgin Trains), legal firms (Scott Rees & Co) and educational authorities (THINK!). With the aim of reducing risk and reducing child accidents, hopefully by spreading the word and getting Sam’s message across, he really can be the hero next door and prevent a few visits to the hospital this summer break.