IS YOUR HOME SAFE ?

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 78, 5 June 1945, Page 7

IS YOUR HOME SAFE ?

(By the Department of Health). With the cold season upon us there'll lie more fires and electrical equipment in use. There are hundreds of avoidable burning accidents in our homes every year—From open (ires if as or electric heaters or t '9 J from scalds. While most of these children, ultimately recover, often they are scarred and maimed. A fimall proportion lose their lives— for example in f!Jf:{ there were iwelve deaths in children under ton vears of age. Tile most common burning accident happens when little children stand too close in front of the lire or electric heater. The girl's frock or Hie boy's garment, is caught in a sudden draught and blown against the flame or hot element and up it goes in a blaze that burns a large part of the body and makes recovery slow and tedious. Worse &till r it may cause death from Ihe shock of so large a burn. The falling on to or grasping of the hot element of an electric (ire or climbing up or about tiie stove and getting burnt in tlie process arc frequent domestic mishaps. Pulling things, off the stove is also common. A. little fellow was scalded badly the other day by pulling a kettle of boili.ng water over himself. Another little girl of :jV 2 years sitting beside a grated lire with a pot of soup on the. firebar the pot, handle and spilt the soup over herself. In England it is a punishable offence to fie 'without fire protection in a home in which a child under seven years of age. But this regulation is honoured more, in the breach and burning accidents are very common there. Yet a survey showed that in 39 houses without fireguards in which burns and scalds of children happened. 1!) of the accidents would have been impossible and five improbable had there been adequate life prolei'ii'-^ This winter if there are little children about see that fires and heaters are adequately guarded gas tubing is out of reach and don't let pot handles jut out at right angles to the stove or grate.