Child safety packs help protect vulnerable children in social housing

Children in social housing are more likely to have an accident at home. GHA is helping parents to prevent the worst, by
Lorraine McLaren Every year, hundreds of toddlers are admitted to hospital in Glasgow because of accidents in the home. Children in social housing are more likely to have an accident at home.

As a social landlord Glasgow Housing Association wanted a practical approach to helping parents address this. What could we do to prevent children being scalded, electrocuted or hurt at home?

It can be difficult for agencies such as the NHS to get their message across to hard-to-reach groups. That’s where the role of a housing provider becomes crucial. We know exactly where these people are because they live in our homes.

We had introduced practical items for our customers before – birthday bags for older tenants, welcome bags containing useful items for the home (washing-up liquid, toilet roll, a cookbook) for new tenants. This time we came up with the idea of child safety packs as a practical solution for tenants with young families.

The pack contains five safety aids chosen because of their simplicity and effectiveness in addressing the most common childhood accidents. The items are: a hair-straightener cover, blind-cord shorteners, socket covers, corner cushions and drawer or cupboard locks.

These items only cost a few pounds and may be purchases many families take for granted. But not everyone can afford to pay for these simple things – and our tenants are among the most deprived in the UK.

It was also important for us that the items in the packs could be used without any particular skills. We tested the items ourselves, took them home and practised fitting a blind cord or hair-straightener cover. We had to satisfy ourselves that no specialist tools or knowledge were needed.

We hope to help our tenants think about preventing accidents before they happen. To this end we also included a health and safety guide that is issued by the NHS to new parents. The packs also include a small gift: a reading book for pre-school children.

Our partners in the NHS were pleased with the packs because they are a very positive way of getting their message across to the people who need it most. The packs are free to tenants with children under five, as research shows this age group is more likely to be at risk of accidents in the home. But crucially, the packs are available to anyone who asks: grandparents, carers, parents of disabled children.

Almost 3,000 packs have been delivered to GHA tenants and their families across Glasgow since they were introduced in March last year. Feedback from tenants has been overwhelmingly positive.

Our tenants – and particularly their children – are among the most vulnerable in the UK. Anything we can do that helps make their lives just a little bit easier is worth doing.

Lorraine McLaren is neighbourhood renewal manager at Glasgow Housing Association