CPSC Offers Back to School Safety Tips

In the past few weeks, millions of American school children have headed back to campuses for another school year. In addition to the fearful tears of new kindergarteners (and maybe even a few sniffles from their sad parents), back to school time unfortunately brings with it an increased risk of children’s injuries.

Traffic accidents on the way to school, slips and falls from playground equipment, and dangerous articles of clothing are among the most common causes of school-related injuries. In an effort to reduce the number of school-related injuries and deaths this year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has today issued its annual “Back to School Safety Checklist.”

By following a few simple steps, parents, grandparents, and other responsible adults can make sure school remains a safe, healthy, and positive environment for children.

“It just takes a moment for a child to be seriously injured or even killed riding a bicycle, playing on the playground, using a movable soccer goal, wearing a jacket with a drawstring or by a recalled product,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “Let’s keep kids in the classroom and out of the emergency room. Parents and school officials should make it a priority to check for hazards at home and at school.”

Back to School Safety Checklist

Playgrounds

Each year, playground accidents account for more than 200,000 visits to hospital emergency rooms, the CPSC said. In most cases, injuries are the result of falls from swings, jungle gyms, and other playground equipment onto the ground. Adults should check with school officials to make sure that the school’s playground equipment has been inspected and maintained. Be sure there are at least nine inches of shock absorbing surface material around the school’s playground equipment to prevent injuries from falls.

Bicycle Helmets

About 80 children under age 16 are killed in bicycle-related incidents each year, the CPSC said. About half of the more than 500,000 emergency room visits due to bicycle-related incidents in 2008 involved children under age 16. To help reduce the number of serious accidents and deaths caused by bicycle incidents, adults should ensure that their child wears a helmet that meets CPSC requirements every time he or she bikes or rides a scooter to and from school. The helmet should be inspected to see that the helmet is appropriate for the age of the child, that it fits snuggly and level on top of the head, and that it has a buckled chin strap.

Drawstrings

The clothing children wear to campus is a leading cause of school-related death and injury. Since 1985, the CPSC has received reports of 28 deaths and 71 non-fatal incidents in which drawstrings in children’s clothing became entangled on playground equipment or other items. This presents a risk of strangulation, suffocation, and death. Before parents send their kids off to school, they should make sure that none of my child’s outerwear clothing has drawstrings at the hood or neck area.

Movable Soccer Goals

There were at least eight deaths and about 2,000 emergency room visits from 1998 to 2008 due to injuries associated with soccer goals either tipping over or falling due to structural failures. Because of this risk, adults should make sure that all soccer goals on playing fields are securely anchored while they are in use.

Recalled Products

The CPSC issues hundreds of product recalls each year, many involving children’s products. However, most of these recalls never make the evening news and adults may not hear about them. Parents of school-aged children should regularly check the CPSC’s web site, www.cpsc.gov, or bookmark our CPSC Recalls section to make sure their children are not using products that have been recalled. Parents may also want to sign up at www.cpsc.gov to have email alerts of recall announcements that interest them sent directly to their email inbox.

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