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Keeping Our Kids Safe

It seems like one week a year is not enough to raise awareness on child safety

4/3/2023 | Jeff Jacobs, The Brand Protector

It seems like one week a year is not enough to raise awareness on child safety. When it comes to kids, I hope you’ll agree that keeping them safe is a 365/24/7 challenge.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) declares National Poison Prevention Week for March every year. For those few days, the CPSC admittedly does a nice job of raising awareness: “We ask consumers to safeguard their families, especially those more vulnerable, from poisonings by keeping potentially harmful household products, medications and drugs locked up out of reach of children,” the agency posted on Twitter, “overall, child poisoning deaths have fallen by 73 percent since 1972 due to tough federal laws including the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA) of 1970 and the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015, and the cooperation of the poison prevention community.”

A new report out for 2021, the latest year available has some key findings:

  • There were 59 pediatric poisonings in kids under five years old in 2021
  • The year also saw more than 60,000 emergency room visits due to poisoning in young kids
  • Most of the poisonings happened at home

The CPSC also called out button batteries, a risk item we’ve talked about several times, citing the dozen kids that died by ingesting button cell or coin batteries from 2017 to 2021. “It's important to not allow kids to play with them and to make sure the batteries are secured.”

Given the increase in unintentional child poisoning deaths, the CPSC has urged caregivers to take extra care with their kids. This includes taking simple but important measures like keeping medications safely stored away in cabinets, discarding unused medicines properly and keeping items like laundry packets and cleaning supplies away from children's reach.

"Nearly eight out of 10 poisonings occurred in the home," said CPSC Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric. "Please take the time to store cleaning supplies, laundry packets, button batteries, and drugs out of children's reach or in locked cabinets. If you see it lying around, a child can grab and swallow it."

“It’s a reminder that these things are still happening and there’s still lots of work to do,” Shushanna Mignott, Program Director for the non-profit group Safe Kids Worldwide, told WSB-TV. “With a combination of kids just being curious and parents being busy, unfortunately, it’s the combination where kids get into things that they shouldn’t sometimes.”

Mignott said the organization advises parents to make sure potentially dangerous items, like button batteries, are kept up and away from young children, and if they can’t be stored high up, make sure the items are locked up. “We’re talking about household cleaning products,” said Mignott, “or it could be medication. We’re also talking about liquid laundry packets, alcohol, personal care products, pesticides.”

The group also encourages parents to make sure the number for poison control is saved in their phones: 1-(800) 222-1222. You just never know when you might need it.

There are federal laws that help protect children from poisoning. The Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA), for instance, aims to reduce kids' accidental ingestion of harmful chemicals through special containers that would hinder their access to such items.

"As a direct result of the PPPA, children 5 years of age and under deaths decreased by 1.4 per million," noted the National Institutes of Health.

There are many takeaways from the latest reminders from the CDC that you could share with your clients, and the easiest is about those challenging button batteries. Make sure products with accessible batteries have battery compartments with a screw or closure, and if the compartment becomes damaged, the item needs to be kept away from young children with inquiring minds. It is really a year-round challenge to protect our kids, but they’re worth it!

Jeff Jacobs has been an expert in building brands and brand stewardship for 40 years, working in commercial television, Hollywood film and home video, publishing, and promotional brand merchandise. He’s a staunch advocate of consumer product safety and has a deep passion and belief regarding the issues surrounding compliance and corporate social responsibility. He retired as executive director of Quality Certification Alliance, the only non-profit dedicated to helping suppliers provide safe and compliant promotional products. Before that, he was director of brand merchandise for Michelin. Connect with Jeff on TwitterLinkedInInstagram, or read his latest musings on food, travel and social media on his personal blog jeffreypjacobs.com. Email jacobs.jeffreyp@gmail.com.
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