Families in Pendle, Lancashire are being urged by the Royal Society for the Prevention Accidents (RoSPA) to take action to protect their children from the risks of household cleaning products.
The latest phase of the Take Action Today campaign, supported by Fairy, launched yesterday (Thursday October 31) at Whitefield Neighbourhood Centre.
This follows the scheme’s success in Birmingham, Liverpool, and other areas across the UK, where over 300,000 families have been helped to prevent poisoning and eye injuries. The campaign is now being delivered across the North West.
In Lancashire, accidental poisonings accounted for 545 emergency admissions for 0 – 4 year olds between 2014/15- 2016/17. This is significantly above the average for the North West and England for the period.
As part of the campaign, a handy magnetic notepad featuring key safety advice will be handed out to at approximately 6,000 families, by public health nurses, health visitors, children’s centres and parent and toddler groups.
Ashley Martin, RoSPA’s public health adviser, said: “The notepad acts as a constant reminder in family kitchens to store cleaning products out of reach, out of sight and in a locked cupboard.
“Due to their inquisitive nature, children under the age of five are most at risk of accidentally swallowing or getting household cleaning products, like liquid laundry capsules, into their eyes. Even products with a child-resistant closure cannot guarantee safety - they only reduce the risk by delaying access to the product.”
Emma Gerrard, representative for Fairy Non Bio said: “We are extremely pleased to be able to support the Take Action Today programme, to help spread the vital message that household cleaning and laundry products can be dangerous in children’s hands and must always be closed securely in their packaging and stored out of reach and sight. Together we hope to change parents’ and carers’ behaviour when it comes to safe use and storage of household cleaning products and drive a reduction in incidents in the North West of England.”
Julia Harrop, team manager for Pendle and Ribble Valley (part of Lancashire Healthy Young People and Families Service) said: “We understand accident poisonings prevention for under 5s will make a huge difference in our communities, so we are delighted Take Action Today has been introduced here in Pendle.”
Take action today, put them away advice to parents includes:
• Store household cleaning products out of reach of children, preferably in a locked cupboard
• Always store chemicals in their original containers
• Never pierce or break laundry capsules or tablets
• Always close the lid of any product
• In the event of an incident, follow advice on the product pack and seek medical attention.
Further information on the Take Action Today campaign can be found at
www.rospa.com