Child safety advice from the council

A SERIES of posters giving advice on child safety issues were distributed in Warrington as part of Child Safety Week.
They were made available by Trading Standards and displayed in GP surgeries, libraries and children’s nurseries.
The aim was to increase awareness of child accidents involving button cell batteries, plastic nappy sacks, window blind cords and detergent liquitabs.
At least 10 babies have died in England and Wales from suffocation after pulling plastic nappy sacks onto their faces.
Nappy sacks are used to place dirty nappies in prior to
disposal, but the sacks are often left in the same environment as the baby. The thinness of the plastic means that they can cling to babies’ faces when they breathe in, leading to an obstruction of the nose and mouth.
Since 1999, there have been at least 27 fatalities across the UK where babies and young children have become accidentally entangled in internal window blind cords and chains.
Cases from Scotland have been identified where young children have been injured after biting or placing colourful detergent liquitabs in their mouths, often mistaking them for sweets.
Cllr David Keane, the borough council’s lead member for environment and public protection, said: “We want to encourage businesses and children’s centres to download these posters from our website and display them in the premises. It is hoped that doing so will contribute to the aim of improve child safety and reduce child accidents.”