Russet Homes urge parents to take steps to safety

Published by Barbara H for Russet Homes in Housing and also in Communities, Education, Environment, Health, Local Government

Russet Homes urged parents with young children to think about their safety at home during a half day training session run by ROSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) at the Family Centre at St James the Great Primary School in East Malling.

The most serious accidents and over 60% of deaths involving older people usually happen on the stairs or in the kitchen. Burns, choking, suffocation, and drowning are the leading causes of unintentional injury or death at home among children. The bedroom and the living room are the most common locations for accidents in general.

Funded and organised by Russet Homes the fun and interactive session introduced local people to a range of simple measures they can take to save lives and reduce the chance of injury at home.

Part of Circle Anglia – one of the UK’s leading providers of affordable housing, Russet Homes own and manage around 6,600 properties in Tonbridge and Malling.

Marilyn Smith, Russet Homes Community Investment Manager, said: “As part of our commitment to raising safety awareness in the community we offered four training sessions in various locations to local people and this was the first one aimed specifically at parents with young children.”

Locking away potentially harmful products such as bleach, keeping stairs tidy and free from clutter, mopping up spills, fixing stair gates, making cables tidy and not standing on chairs to replace light bulbs etc and other helpful advice was given.

“Home is the place where we spend the majority of our time but unfortunately it is also where accidents are most likely to happen.” Marilyn continued “We want to highlight how easy it is to prevent many of these from occurring and make home a safe and enjoyable place to be.”

Local resident Lisa Boorman said: “I found the training very useful and informative; it taught me things that I wouldn’t have thought of. I can now teach my children what I have learned as they will find it useful as it ties in with things they are doing at school such as road safety and fire safety”