Child Safety Week

Government Statistics

Over one thousand children were injured in accidental house fires in 2006, many of which occurred in the kitchen. Many rooms still have no smoke alarms and things are made worse, if no adults are present to help the children. To help cut down these figures Safelincs have created this fire safety advice section.

This section is designed to try and identify potential risks, to tell them what to do in the event of a fire and how to reduce the risk. Children learn by example. If parents take fire safety seriously children are more likely to do the same.

Talk to your children about fire safety

Sit down with your children and explain to them the dangers of playing with fire. The Government web site records that 6000 fires a year are caused by children under the age of 10. Children need to know what to do in the event of a fire, by giving them basic instructions this could save their life.

Here are some tips to explain to your children:

• Don’t play with matches, lighters or candles
• Don’t put anything on top of the cooker
• Don’t switch on the cooker
• Don’t play near a fire or heater
• Always tell a grown up if they see matches or lighters unguarded
• If there is a fire get out of the building as quickly as possible
• If the exit is blocked find a safe room, open the window and shout for help
• Find a phone and call 999

Reduce the risks for children around your home

Reducing the risks for children around the house is essential. We have created a fire safety tips section for anyone looking after children. By following these tips you can help cut down the chances of fire related injuries in the home.

• smoke alarm are essential and low cost. Smoke alarms provide vital early warning and extra time to escape if there is a fire. Every home should have at least one working smoke alarm in the passage way of every home. Safelincs offer smoke alarms from just £3.99 inc vat.
• Linked smoke alarms are ideal for quickly detecting a fire and alarming everyone in the building. If one alarm detects a fire, all of the alarms are activated. The quicker you are aware, the quicker you can react.
• Portable fire escape can be stored near the escape window and are easily deployed in the event of a fire. A fire escape ladder is ideal for families with children sleeping in upstairs bedrooms. Portable fire escape ladders are available from just £43.05 (inc vat). Please note that children under 7 will not be able to deploy escape ladders.
• Plan your escape route. Have a family walk through of what to do if there is a fire
• Don’t leave children alone in a room if it has a fire risk.
• Have a child-proof fire guard if you have an open fire or heater.
• Use child locks on cupboards that contain matches, candles and lighters.
• Make sure appliances are safely stored away.
• Never leave your cooker unattended, especially when children are present. Turn pan handles away from you when cooking.
• Ensure electrical appliances are switched off at night.
• Keep doors closed at night (this helps prevent the spread of a fire).

Ensure you have a working smoke alarm

It is so important to have working smoke alarms in your property. They really do save lives. You are twice as likely to die in a fire at your home if smoke alarms are not fitted and working. If you haven’t got a smoke alarm – get one!

Choosing a smoke or heat alarm:

When choosing a smoke alarm, it is important to have the right one in the right place. The three types of alarms to choose from are ionisation, optical and heat. Smoke alarms need to be fitted on every level of your home.

Ionisation smoke alarms are more sensitive to faster flaming fires, such as burning paper or word. These alarms are perfect for use on landings.

Optical smoke alarms are more sensitive to slower, smouldering fires such as soft furnishings. These alarms are ideal for hallways, bedrooms and living rooms.

For the kitchen we would recommend a heat alarm. This alarm will not be activated when you have burnt your toast as it detects heat and not smoke. Heat alarms are also used in rooms, where smoke or dust are frequently a part of the normal atmosphere, such as kitchens or garages.

Whichever model you choose, you should make sure that it meets British Standard (BS ES 14604) and also carries the British Standard Kitemark.

Maintaining your smoke alarm:

• Test it: Make sure you test you smoke alarm regularly. Most smoke alarms have a test button feature which allows you to press a button to test the alarm.
• Change batteries: Make sure you change your batteries in your smoke alarm when the unit begins to chirp. Never remove the battery from your smoke detector, the chances are you’ll forget to put it back. Long life batteries can be installed to give you a 10 year battery life span.
• Replace units: Make sure that smoke alarms are replaced after 10 years. Just like any electrical appliance, the components of smoke alarms wear out over time. When a smoke alarm reaches 10 years of use, the potential of failing to detect a fire increases substantially.

Fire fighting equipment within your home:

If you have a fire in your home it is important to get out of the building as soon as possible and call 999. It is not recommended to tackle a large fire yourself but having fire fighting equipment in your home can reduce the chances of a small fire spreading.

There are four main types of fire extinguishers that can be used in the home. They include foam, dry powder, water and CO2. It is important that you choose the correct extinguisher for your home, looking carefully on what kinds of fires it can be used on..

Fire blanketsare a cheap and effective way to stop small fires from spreading. This is used to cover a fire in order to cut off the oxygen supply. They can only be used on small fires and are ideal for use in the kitchen.

Have an escape plan

Have an emergency escape plan and practice it frequently. Walk through exactly what you would do in the event of a fire. By doing this you are making sure your entire family knows what to do in the case of a fire. Have a secondary escape route, in case the most obvious way out is blocked by smoke or fire. Remember that the smoke of a home fire is extremely dense and toxic. It takes only three breaths of smoke to cause a person to become unconscious. Having a fire escape hoodcould save your life as it protects you from toxic gases for up to 15 minutes.

Escape route tips:

• Keep escape routes clear.
• Keep door and window keys somewhere where they can easily be located.
• Practice your escape route and have a back up escape route
• Think about ways of getting older or disabled people out of the house (e.g. evacuation devices such as evacuation sledges and mattresses)
• Keep as low as possible, if there is a fire that is where the clearest air is
• If you can’t escape – find a safe refuge
• Keep a note of your address near the phone so that children can read it out to the emergency services
• Have a designated meeting area, so that everyone will know exactly where to wait
• A fire escape hammer is ideal for emergency use in the home, office or car

Safelincs have a fantastic 'Mother and Baby' Safety kit which includes an ionisation smoke alarm with escape light, small fire extinguisher and a 30 piece home safety starter pack. Kidde's 30 piece Home Safety Starter Pack is an excellent, easy to install range of products to assist in the prevention of harm to your child around the home in the early years of their life. (This includes 12 x plug socket covers, 8 x corner cushions, 3 x cupboard locks, 3 x drawer locks, 1 x fridge/freezer lock, 1 x toilet seat lock, 1 x door stopper, 1 x multi purpose latch).