RLSS UK’s annual Spring Clean awareness campaign, warns UK and Ireland parents of the dangers of water around the home and garden.

The campaign, which will run 1-5 April 2019, asks people to follow simple advice to stay safe around the home and garden.

Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death of children in the UK. On average ten children aged between 0 to 4 years old drown within their home each year and countless suffer injury through near-drowning experience. Putting these figures into context, a sixth of all accidental deaths of children aged between 0 to 4-years-old are drowning related and more children drown each year than lose their life in fire-related incidents. In five years, 50 children, 41 boys and 9 girls, have died as a result of drowning in a domestic environment.

The majority of all these drowning deaths are preventable, follow RLSS UK’s water safety advice for around the home.
 

RLSS UK’s advice:

• Empty paddling pools and buckets as soon as they have been used
• Always empty and turn paddling pools upside down
• Securely cover all water storage tanks and drains
• Always pull out the plug
• Never leave children unattended at bath time. Empty the bath as soon as possible after use
• Always put the bath plug up high and out of reach
• Always keep the bathroom door shut
• Always use self-closing gates, fences and locks to prevent children from gaining access to pools of water

For more information on the RLSS UK Spring Clean campaign and the safety steps you can take:

View our press release here.

View our advice on water safety at home here.

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