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| Reduce the risk of harm to your children with a family safety plan |
We spend a lot of time organising the physical things in our homes: the toys, the washing, the cupboards. But the most important thing we can organise is our family's response to an emergency. Having a clear, easy-to-remember family safety plan isn't about scaring our children; it’s about giving them confidence, certainty and calm if a scary situation arises.
This post guides you through creating a simple, three-part plan that everyone in your family, from toddler to teen, can understand and practise.
Part One: Fire and Evacuation Drills
Fire is the most critical and common home emergency requiring a fast, planned response. Practising this shouldn't be stressful; it should be treated like a routine, similar to practising crossing the road safely. Many Fire Brigades offer free home safety visits where they can help you establish a plan and also help identify potential hazards.
1. When to Evacuate
It's not unusual for smoke alarms to go off when cooking, and the majority of the time when the smoke alarm goes off there is no need to leave the house. In fact small children would be at more risk of harm if they ran out of the house on their own every time the alarm goes off. Create your evacuation plan based on the age of your child and their understanding.
2. Identify Two Ways Out
Walk through every room with your children and identify two safe ways out. This might be the main door and a window (for ground floor or easily accessible windows), or two different doors leading to a common area. Help older children identify whether they can safely use an exit (eg looking for smoke coming in around the door and holding the back of their hand against the door handle to feel for heat before opening it).
3. Practise the "Get Low and Go" Rule
Teach children that smoke rises, so if they need to leave a building full of smoke they should crawl low under the smoke to exit safely. You can make a game of practicing how to do this to make it familiar, not frightening.
4. Establish a Meeting Point
If your children are old enough to safely leave the house on their own in an emergency then agree a meeting point in case of a fire. This must be outside and away from the house. Choose something permanent and easy to find, like a specific neighbour's garden, a large tree or the end of the driveway. The rule is simple: if you need to evacuate everyone goes straight to the Meeting Point and stays there.
Part Two: The "Who to Call" System
In an emergency where a child needs to call for help, they often panic and forget crucial information. Preparing them with a clear "Who to Call" list and essential details is key.
1. Emergency Numbers Display
Create a laminated list of emergency numbers and stick it to the fridge or a wall near a landline or main phone charging point if you have one. This should include:
- 999 stating it's for police, fire or ambulance.
- At least two trusted local Neighbours /Family Contacts (with their names).
- Your work/ mobile numbers
- Your GP surgery number
Talk through when they should call each number and give examples.
For older children who have their own mobile numbers make sure they have these emergency contacts (except 999) in their phone, with (Emergency) in brackets so they can easily find them.
2. Learn Your Home Address
It's surprising the number of children who do not know their home address. From primary school age upwards help children to memorise their full home address (and ideally your mobile number too). In an emergency your address may be the most important piece of information they need to provide to an emergency operator. Add it to the Emergency Numbers list too.
Part Three: Safety Protocols and Boundaries
This involves ensuring children understand the importance of boundaries around potentially dangerous household items.
1. Medicine and Cleaning Product Safety
As covered in this post, it's important to talk to your children about appropriate use of medicine and other potentially harmful items at home, including cleaning products. If you have young children in the house (either your own or regular visitors) cleaning products must be out of their reach and stored appropriately.
2. Recognising Strange Behaviours
We might have been taught about Stranger Danger when we were young, but a more helpful idea is around identifying "Strange Behaviours". Encourage children to trust their gut or "spidey senses" for when a person or situation is unsafe and when they should reach out to a trusted adult (which might include you or someone who could have been considered a "stranger" in the old concept like a police officer or shop worker). The reason this is so important is that they could be at home, with someone they know, but still at potential risk.
3. Kitchen and Tool Boundaries
Define which areas of the house or items are restricted. This can be as simple as: "Do not touch the oven door" as they wont always know when it has recently be turned off. "Do not go in the shed without an adult" or wherever it is that tools are kept. Clarity and consistency in these rules reduce accidents.
Creating a family safety plan doesn't have to be a one time, intimidating task. Break it down into these three simple parts, review them every six months and you’ll help ensure your children know how to stay safe, even when accidents happen.
