RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
November 8, 2001
TEN SIMPLE SAFETY MEASURES COULD SAVE MILLIONS
A ten-point plan to make all new UK houses considerably safer for less than £700 will be discussed at a national conference on Monday.
Simple devices, which in the long term could be included in new building regulations and guidelines, would save lives and prevent thousands of injuries each year, according to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
Home accidents result in about 4,000 deaths annually and send 2.8 million people to hospital for treatment – making the home the country’s biggest accident menace.
Ways in which builders and developers can help to beat the problem will be discussed at RoSPA’s national home safety congress, Safety by Design, to be held at the Moat House Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon, on Monday and Tuesday (November 12-13).
RoSPA is proposing ten solutions that could be included at the design and build stage of new homes. These are: built-in lockable cupboards for medicines and chemicals; fixing points for stair gates; fixing points for fire-guards; window restrictors on windows above ground level; easily accessible window controls; lower treads on stairs and a “dog leg” bend in the staircase to reduce the distance of falls; grab rails by the bath and WC; hand-rails on both sides of stairs; improved water temperature control, including thermostatic taps; provision of safety advice for home and garden.
Sarah Colles, RoSPA Home Safety Adviser, said: “These ten things would cost less than £700, but could save the health service millions in treatment costs. We would like to see them included in building regulations and guidelines, but while we are waiting, we hope builders will take them on board voluntarily. It is much easier to make a home safe when it is being built than to have to add things later.”
Delegates will also hear a call for sprinkler systems to be fitted when homes are built so that residents have “a fire fighter in every room”.
Melanie Johnson, Consumer and Competition Minister, will be speaking about the Government’s Modernisation Fund.
The congress is sponsored by William Levene, manufacturers of the Culinare SafetyCan. Workshops will give home safety professionals an opportunity to share ideas and experience.
