Robert Brown backs Child Accident Campaign

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 30th Apr 2008

Glasgow Liberal Democrat MSP Robert Brown has given his backing to the Child Accident Prevention Trust's Child Safety Week, which ran from 23-29th June.

Child Safety Week runs each year to educate and inform the public of what can be done to keep children safer in the home and outdoors.

Every week in the UK, six children die from accidents. Child Safety Week aims to show how many accidents can be prevented through small actions and changes in behaviour, and that all this can be done without wrapping children in cotton wool.

The campaign targets road safety, fire safety, accidental poisoning, electricity in the home as well as drowning and falls.

Robert Brown said:

"The number of children harmed or killed each year through accidents is harrowing and unnecessary.

"Worryingly, accidents are the second biggest childhood killer, but the message this week is that this is all preventable.

"Sadly, children from poorer homes are at larger risk - they are 38 times more likely to die in a house fire, 21 times more likely to die as pedestrians and three times more likely to be admitted to hospital through accidental poisoning.

"The campaign pack is available to everyone online and I hope parents in Rutherglen and Cambuslang will download it at http://www.capt.org.uk/parents .

"There are some great tips on how to prevent accidents and useful indicators of whether your child is at risk.

"I was shocked to discover for example that one third of parents haven't made their child aware of the dangers of mixing electricity and water or that a third of children knocked over while crossing the road hadn't checked for traffic first.

"Child Safety Week is an excellent time to talk to children to make them aware of risks and hazards surrounding them in their lives - and its success could be personally important for many of us."

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