Babies and children under five years old are among those most commonly injured by television and furniture ‘tip-over’ accidents in the home and many of these accidents are preventable.
The Southern Health and Social Care Trust today launched a campaign raising awareness of this issue with parents, children, early years organisations, child care providers and staff who have contact with families or provide childcare.
Nina Daly, Action Prevention Officer, Southern Trust said: “We would ask parents and childcare providers to look at their home or child care environment to ensure that it does not present any falls risks, to supervise young children closely and to continually remind children not to take risks in order to prevent tragedies.
“It is important to evaluate the safety of televisions and furniture and ensure that they are secured to the wall. Protecting your children from the potential risk of television and furniture tip-overs is an important part of keeping children safe. Most people are unaware of the severity of injuries or the risk of a fatality that can occur when a child climbs and causes a television set or an item of furniture to topple over onto them.”
“Flat screen televisions are top heavy, have narrow bases and can easily tip over from an entertainment centre or table with the pull or push of an ambitious two-year old exploring their new limits and boundaries. Old cathode ray tube (CRT) television sets which are large and heavy, when placed on dressers or high furniture can also slide off when a child tries to climb the drawers to reach the television or whatever else may be on top. According to research conducted in 2012* it is estimated that a 36-inch CRT television falling three feet (approx. 1metre) creates the same momentum as a 1 year old child falling 10 stories. Care also needs to be taken when attempting to move old television sets to ensure that children are not in the vicinity at the time of moving these heavy items, which can slip and fall from an adult’s grip.”
Mairead Donnelly, Manager of the Family Nursing Partnership (FNP), Southern Trust said: “We are delighted to support this campaign and through the FNP we will be encouraging parents to check that televisions and items of furniture are safe and secure. Safety is an important part of the FNP programme and we will continue to support families to keep themselves and their children safe and well. Safety literature and television restraining straps will be made available to families and staff.”
For more information contact Nina Daly on Tel: 028 3831 1524 or Email Nina.daly@southerntrust.hscni.net. You can download a factsheet on Preventing TV and Furniture Tip-Overs from www.southerntrust.hscni.net/livewell/1537.htm or
Picture: Jordan Campbell with her daughter Kayla showing restraining straps fitted to their television.
TV /FURNITURE SAFETY CHECK
The SHSCT is calling on families to conduct a quick safety check:
- Assess the stability of the TVs and items of furniture in your home.
- Secure TVs and furniture
- Mount flat screen TVs to the wall to reduce the risk of TVs toppling off stands.
- If you have a large, heavy old-style cathode ray tube (CRT) TV, place it on a low, stable piece of furniture.
- Use furniture restraining straps for heavy or unstable items of furniture or heavy appliances.
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