As safe as houses

All parents want to provide the safest possible environment for their children to grow up in. With a little understanding of the dangers in your home, you can easily learn how best to avoid them. Try our quiz to see just how much you know . . .

Complete the following multiple-choice quiz to see how you could prevent accidents in the home. There may be more than one correct answer.

1 Bathroom

Q1 Scalding can occur above which temperature?

1. 20 Deg C
2. 30 Deg C
3. 40 Deg C
4. 45 Deg C (120 Deg F)

2 Bedroom

Q2 What should you check for when buying sleepwear for your child?

1. Its colour
2. An approved safety certificate
3. Its size
4. Its shape

Q3 What must you NEVER do in a bedroom?

1. Read out loud
2. Jump on the beds
3. Laugh
4. Smoke

3 Balconies

Q4 No child should be allowed out on a balcony unsupervised. What else should you do?

1. Keep the access door locked
2. Place a grill or stair gate in front of the access to allow door to be open but no entry
3. Check that the railings are no more than four inches apart and if so place a mesh netting over rails
4. Don’t make it possible to climb up

4 Living Room

Q5 How should you protect a fireplace from curious toddlers?

1. Shout and scream at them whenever they go near it
2. Barricade it with chairs and toys
3. Keep the living room door locked unless an adult is in the room with the toddler
4. Place a secure fire guard around the fireplace for protection

Q6 Children love to play with electrical equipment like the TV, video and sockets. How could you prevent them from playing with the wires?

1. Place all wires neatly in an “electric cord tidy”
2. Have a video/TV guard protector
3. Put socket plug protectors into spare sockets
4. Tell them not to

Q7 OUCH! Your child often bumps their head on the coffee table. What should you do?

1. Tell her to stop being so careless
2. Place corner cushion protectors or hearth surround material on the corners of the table to ease the bump
3. Remove the coffee table
4. Laugh

5 Kitchen and Utility Room

Q8 Toddlers love to reach up and grab. What precautions should you put in place?

1. Curly flex cable on the kettle to stop any of the cord from hanging near or over the edge
2. All pots and pans to be placed at the back of the cooker
3. Keep the step ladder close by so instead of reaching up they can climb up
4. Teach through conversation about the dangers that can so easily occur in the kitchen

Q9 How do you make safe all medicines, cleaning materials, caustics, knives , and so on

1. Place them high on shelving so that they are unreachable
2. Have cupboard locks in place so that only an adult can open the drawer or cupboard
3. Say NO until you are hoarse
4. Don’t buy any product that could be of danger

6 Hall/Landing/Stairs

Q10 Every hall should have a smoke detector. How should you look after them to ensure they are in working order?

1. Dust them each week
2. Ensure the batteries are working by testing them each month
3. Smoke out the kitchen at least once a week
4. Call the fire brigade to check it out

Q11 Children often think that the under-stairs cupboard is a safe haven for hiding in, but it can be dangerous and should not be encouraged. What should you do?

1. Put a lock on it at a height that is above a child’s reach
2. Block it in with rubble
3. Put a sign on the door saying “KEEP OUT”
4. Lock it and throw away the key

7 Basement

Q12 If your electric and gas meters are housed in the basement, make sure:

1. They are within easy reach of the stairs
2. They are high and out of reach of small hands
3. They are boxed in
4. They sit above the water tank

Q13 If your basement is used as a play area be sure that:

1. Any potential dangers/equipment are kept out of reach
2. The entrance/exit doors are safe for all ages
3. You keep no food in the basement
4. Make sure that only two children play in the area at any one time

8 Garage

Q14 Keep your garage locked and out of bounds to children because:

1. It is not a play area
2. You need to keep all chemicals out of reach or locked up
3. Access to bicycles and large toys should be gained under supervision of an adult
4. It looks untidy if doors are left open

9 Garden

Q15 The most dangerous area in a garden is open water. Prevent children from falling into ponds by:

1. Placing a secure cover over the top
2. Stopping them from entering the garden at all costs
3. Covering up any windows overlooking the garden that might tempt them
4. Dye the water yellow so that they can see it more clearly

Q16 Which of these would you do to make a garden safe?

1. Make all fencing and gates safe so as to provide a secure boundary around the garden
2. Take out all poisonous plants
3. Ensure all play equipment is installed to manufacturers’ requirements
4. Keep children away from waste pipes and drains

10 Pets

Q17 What is Toxoplasmosis, which affects pregnant women?

1. A plant-related disease
2. A type of tax
3. A potentially-dangerous parasitic infection carried by cats
4. An allergy found in grass seed

11 Lifesavers

Link the danger with the correct product solution, for example: A Fire – 9 Smoke Detector

DANGER	PRODUCT SOLUTION
A Fire	1 Corner cushions
B Electricity	2 Shatterproof film
C Water	3 Drawer locks
D Accident/Injury	4 Fire guard
E Glass	5 Bath thermometer
F Doors	6 Wire/cable tidy
G Table tops	7 Door stoppers
H Stairs	8 First aid box
L Knives	9 Smoke detector
M Fireplace	10 Gates

 

Answers to quiz...

 

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