Keep Kids Safe On the Playground

According to the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS), a nonprofit organization that funds efforts to reduce playground injuries, more than 200,000 preschool and elementary aged children are injured on playgrounds every year to the extent that they require hospital care.

What’s more, while many of us assume that such dangers lurk only on public playgrounds, the reality is that private playgrounds – the ones in our own backyards – also pose a hazard and, consequently, potential legal liability. In fact, at least 19% of playground injuries occur on home playground equipment.

However, with just a bit more awareness and increased diligence, we can ensure that our children get the most out of their playtime and that we aren’t unwittingly placing ourselves in legal jeopardy.

NPPS recommends using the acronym S.A.F.E. to guide us in our playground safety mission.

Supervise: Children should never be left alone while playing on playground equipment. Parents who supervise are able to better assess situations that children can’t and are consequently able to prevent injuries.

Age-Appropriate: Consider the level of difficulty in maneuvering the playground your child is using. Are the tasks and movements those that your child is capable of mastering? Taking kids to age-appropriate play sets drastically reduce the likelihood of injury.

 Fall Surface: A vast majority of playground injuries result directly from falls. As a result, playground owners should always use a fall surface material that takes into account equipment height, durability, surface depth, and American Society for Testing & Materials standards. Recommended materials include shredded rubber, sand, pea gravel, and hardwood fiber.

 Equipment Maintenance: Playgrounds that are kept free of splinters, rust, cracks, structural weaknesses, and openings in which children could become stuck are much safer for children to play on. Maintenance should be a routine endeavor. If a play set is visibly deteriorated, don’t go near it!

By following these basic guidelines, we can reduce the number of annual injuries our children sustain from playgrounds. After all, many of such unfortunate incidents are completely preventable. What’s more, by applying such recommendations to the play sets in our own backyards, we can minimize our liability and keep our personal assets out of jeopardy.

Author: Paul B. Harding; Martin, Harding & Mazzotti LLP ®

Child Scalding Prevention

“A scald injury occurs when contact with hot liquid or steam damages one or more layers of skin”. And this kind of burn is very painful and can be life threatening for small children who are more vulnerable.

40% of all scald injuries are suffered by children aged 0-4.

In order to prevent scalding here are a few great tips:

• Set your water heater at 120 degrees for a medium setting.
• When filling the tub for a child use a thermometer to judge if it’s too hot.
• Run your hand under the water before allowing your child to get in the tub.
• Purchase a Faucet & Tap Protector that helps prevent bumps and bruises.
• Wear long oven mitts when handling hot food
• Turn all pot handles inward
• Use a Stove Guard to keep little ones from hot stove burners.

If you do burn your skin: Run cold water over it for 3 minutes or more. Don’t use butter or ice and call 911 if the burn looks really bad.

Be safe and be aware!

Thanks from the staff at Kidsafe

 

Toy Safety This Christmas

While your children are most likely making their list for Santa and their eyes may light up over all the shiny toys on the market this time of year – you need to remember that some of these items account for hundreds of thousands of injuries each year. In 2009 alone, it was reported that there was an estimated 181,900 toy-related injuries, stating that nearly ½ of these injuries occurred in children 5 or under.

In order to keep your little ones safe please take a moment and read over some great reminders when it comes to kids, toys and safety.

• Kids 3 and under tend to put most everything in their mouth, avoid toys with small parts, they can become a choking hazard.
• Avoid marbles, and small balls that are smaller than 1.75 inches for kids under 3.
• Remember kids 3 and under pull, prod and twist toys, make sure toys with eyes, noses and other parts are secure.
• Keep in mind a child’s age when buying gifts this season
• Get rid of the plastic that toys are wrapped in; it can be a real hazard in the wrong little hands.
• Toys with long strings or cords may be very dangerous to infants and very young kids.
• Always remember projectile toys can turn into weapons and can injure eyes very easily.

It’s good to remember that protecting children from an unsafe toys is all of our responsibilities. Careful toy selection and proper supervision of kids while they play is the best way to make sure they do not get injured while playing.

Now go have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and remember its always more fun to play with a friend, so this Christmas get on your knees, crawl around, enjoying the new toys and best of all enjoy the smile you’ll see on your little ones face while you play with them.

Merry Christmas: from the staff at KidSafeInc.com.

 

Germ Alert: Beware of shopping carts!

Next time you go to the supermarket, you may want to use the disinfectant wipes the store offers to clean the handle on your shopping cart. It turns out shopping carts are loaded with germs that you don’t want your child exposed to.

 According to a recent study 72% of 85 carts that were tested had traces of fecal bacteria on them. The researchers also took a closer look at 36 of the carts and found that 50% of them carried E. coli. “That’s more than you find in a supermarket restroom” states Charles Gerba, a microbiology professor at the University of Arizona.

 The reasons for all this bad news, the shopping carts are not routinely scrubbed like rest rooms are. Researchers feel the germs are a result of dirty hands, raw foods, birds and other animal feces as the carts are stored outside.

 We have a product to protect your little one from coming in contact with all these germs – The Gummi Grip Shopping Cart Handle Cover.

This soft flexible plastic cover fits neatly over the cart handle and protects your child from dirty carts.

Toxic Metal in Kids Jewelry

Just when you thought China had cleaned up its manufacturing act a new threat emerges. A new report out this week documents that some Chinese manufacturers have been using Cadmium at very high levels in children’s jewelry.  Cadmium which can cause cancer is even more harmful than the well-known damaging affects of lead in products.  Make sure that any jewelry you have or will be getting is free of Cadmium.

National Car Seat Check Saturday is September 12th

Is your Child Car Seat installed properly?  There is a good chance that it is not properly adjusted in the safest manner.  Find out for sure this Saturday September 12th at the National Seat Check Saturday sponsored by Safe Kids USA.

Car seats can be complicated to install, learn from an experienced expert the correct methods. Make sure your child is riding in the right age appropriate restraint.  Find a location near you.

KidSafe adds WishPot Gift Registry

KidSafe has added the WishPot Gift Registry service to our website www. kidsafeinc.com . Wishpot is a free online service that lets you create a centralized wish list with any items in our store. Create a baby safety registry and easily share it with family and friends. You will find the “Add to WishPot” button at each Product Page.