{"id":3748,"date":"1968-02-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"1968-02-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1968-vol-49-no-2-fatal-home-accidents-can-be-avoided\/"},"modified":"2022-11-28T01:11:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T01:11:00","slug":"february-1968-vol-49-no-2-fatal-home-accidents-can-be-avoided","status":"publish","type":"rbc_letter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1968-vol-49-no-2-fatal-home-accidents-can-be-avoided\/","title":{"rendered":"February 1968 &#8211; VOL. 49, No. 2 &#8211; Fatal Home Accidents CAN be Avoided"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"layout-column-main\">\n<p class=\"boldtext\">What is an accident? Some people                     think of it as being a misadventure. Others dismiss it as                     an unforeseen or unexpected event. Many think of it as a matter                     of bad luck.<\/p>\n<p> In the interest of living longer it is a mistake to treat                     the word so offhandedly. Every accident is caused by something                     &#8211; an unsafe act, an unsafe practice, or an unrealized                     hazard. It is not &#8220;luck&#8221;, which is only a word we use to cover                     our defects of knowledge. If we wish to live we must apply                     our intelligence so as to preserve ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>The shocking fact is that, in keeping with industry and                     finance which have become computerized to keep up with business,                     Death, too, must be using a computer to count the victims                     of accidents.<\/p>\n<p>Thoughtful people can feel nothing but chagrin when they                     read the sad Canadian annual record of 11,000 men, women and                     children killed in accidents, more than a million injured,                     over a million million dollars lost economically, and 14,000                     hospital beds taken up by accident victims every day. It is                     a national disgrace.<\/p>\n<p>But death by accident is not merely a statistical fact to                     be tabulated. Death is a personal thing: there is a shocking                     finality to it.<\/p>\n<p>Look at Canada&#8217;s record: of every hundred people who lost                     their lives in accidents in a year, 46 were killed in events                     involving motor vehicles; 15 deaths resulted from falls; 10                     were drownings; 6 were in fires or explosions; 6 involved                     mechanical and food suffocation; 4 were from poisoning; and                     two each were caused by falling objects, machinery and firearms.<\/p>\n<p>In every one of those &#8220;accidental&#8221; deaths someone was at                     fault. He used a safe gadget dangerously; he did a safe act                     in an unsafe way; he used a dangerous article carelessly;                     he failed to look ahead to the consequences of what he was                     about to do.<\/p>\n<p>A key word is &#8220;carelessness&#8221;. The poison taken by mistake                     kills just as certainly as that taken deliberately. The heedlessly                     driven automobile kills just as certainly as the deliberately                     dropped bomb. The fire caused by a cigarette kills just as                     certainly as that started deliberately by an arsonist. No                     one can opt out of responsibility by pleading thoughtlessness.<\/p>\n<h3>Accidents at home<\/h3>\n<p>Although measurable progress has been made in reducing the                     death rate from home accidents, they still rank among the                     leading causes of death, and this <em>Letter <\/em>is devoted                     to discussing ways of avoiding them.<\/p>\n<p>They happen all over the house: 30 per cent in the kitchen-dining                     quarters; 24 per cent in the porch or yard area; 18 per cent                     in the living and sleeping quarters; 12 per cent on stairs;                     3 per cent in the bathroom; 3 per cent in the cellar; 2 per                     cent in hallways; 1 per cent in the garage; and 7 per cent                     in other areas.<\/p>\n<p>They happen in all sorts of ways: 38 per cent result from                     falls on the level; 14 per cent from falls from heights; 13                     per cent from hot or burning substances; 9 per cent from handling                     materials or objects; 2 per cent from falling material; and                     10 per cent from other causes.<\/p>\n<p>Accidental deaths happen at all ages: in one year there                     were 492 accidental deaths from all causes in the under one-year-old                     group; 712 deaths at ages 1 to 4; 1,137 at ages 5 to 14; 2,192                     at ages 15 to 24; 3,111 at ages 25 to 44; 2,788 at ages 45                     to 64; and 2,521 at ages 65 and over. The total of accidental                     deaths in Canada in 1965 was 10,978.<\/p>\n<p>The prevention of home accidents is a challenging problem.                     Safety in the home is just as much a part of home operation                     as bringing home the pay envelope or cooking dinner.<\/p>\n<p>Playing safe means appraising every new machine and gadget                     to uncover its unsafe qualities, and taking immediate steps                     to protect people from them. It means constant vigilance,                     taking a new look at everything in the house periodically                     to discover new and developing dangers. It takes account of                     hard facts: a four-cycle engine turning a 20-inch blade on                     a rotary grass mower can hurl a pebble at a speed of up to                     170 miles per hour, the speed of a shell fragment.<\/p>\n<p>It is not possible to eliminate every hazard, but it is                     an undoubted responsibility to make everyone conscious of                     the hazards that exist. Without co-operation of all in the                     family, parents are limited in what they can do to prevent                     accidents. Like industrial concerns, the home should make                     organized accident prevention an integral part of life.<\/p>\n<p>Why not form a family safety council, with every member                     of the family charged with examining conditions regularly?                     If everyone is imbued with the safety spirit there will be                     no need to nag or to talk tiresomely about safety.<\/p>\n<p>Parents must set the tone by what they do and say. Telling                     is not training. Children need to be shown and to have things                     explained to them. They should be commended for safety suggestions                     and for examples of safety precautions. Then, as a combination                     of all these efforts, the habit of safety will follow them                     through their lives.<\/p>\n<p>An excellent book of 32 pages, illustrated, is published                     by the Canadian Gas Association, available from local gas                     company offices. It is called <em>Home Safe Home<\/em>, and covers                     all aspects of home safety from television aerial to the cellar.<\/p>\n<h3>Safety of children<\/h3>\n<p>Children are a special case in the broad safety-from-accidents                     picture. They don&#8217;t die of diseases nearly to the extent they                     used to, but accidents take an increasing toll of life and                     limb.<\/p>\n<p>Every home has built-in accident possibilities, and there                     is no magic formula guaranteed to protect children. There                     is, however, a growing appreciation of the good that can be                     done by providing supervision, removing known hazards, teaching                     simple safety measures, and setting good examples.<\/p>\n<p>A mother has to relate today to yesterday, because what                     baby couldn&#8217;t possibly do then he is quite capable of doing                     now. She has to keep her thinking up with her child&#8217;s thinking:                     his curiosity is extending itself every hour. Pitting her                     wit against the baby&#8217;s curiosity is a rugged game, but the                     reward is preservation of the baby&#8217;s life.<\/p>\n<p>Accident prevention begins with one hundred per cent protection.                     The baby is completely at the mercy of its custodians. As                     one speaker put it to a convention of pediatricians: &#8220;If it                     is burned, drowned, poisoned, crushed or mangled it is because                     it has been denied protection by those responsible for its                     care.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It is of the nature of babies to twist and squirm and roll;                     therefore they should never be left for an instant in a position                     where they can topple into danger. Bedding should be pinned,                     buttoned, or folded in such a way that smothering is impossible.                     Water isn&#8217;t safe until the child learns to respect it. At                     various ages, a couple of inches of water in a basin, a six-inch                     deep play pool, a weed-strewn pond, and a too-shallow diving                     pool are menaces to children. The Saskatchewan Department                     of Public Health booklet <em>A Child Safety Handbook <\/em>says                     without compromise: &#8220;Never leave a small child alone in a                     bathtub for even one second. Let the telephone ring!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As children leave the baby stage it may appear to parents                     that they go looking for trouble. What of it? To explore the                     unknown is how they learn. What parents need to do is look                     for the trouble before it happens and prevent it from happening.<\/p>\n<p>Little precautions count. Keep razor blades, pins, buttons                     and other small objects out of reach. Lock doors that open                     to potential danger. Keep medicines in a high latched cabinet.                     Read labels carefully before using the contents of any bottle                     or package. Seal all unused electric outlets with adhesive                     tape or by special plugs made for this purpose.<\/p>\n<p>These warnings seem hackneyed, but their very commonplaceness                     is the reason for repeated emphasis. Small omissions or faults                     cause the greatest amount of tragedy and heartache.<\/p>\n<h3>Teaching self-protection<\/h3>\n<p>Hazards multiply as the child learns to creep, walk, and                     climb. He embarks upon an orgy of exploration in a world that                     is all new to him. He will taste, tug, touch and test every                     article within his ever-growing reach. He needs freedom, but                     he needs limits, too. Absolute protection must be maintained                     against lethal and crippling hazards, but the run-about child                     must begin to amass a back-log of experience from slight mishaps,                     and so gain some practical concepts of pain, heat, gravity                     and non-edibility.<\/p>\n<p>As children grow through their early years they should be                     progressively learning to protect themselves. Give them liberty                     to explore and experiment within a circle which you draw firmly                     and explain simply.<\/p>\n<p>Discipline is a safety tool, the fore-runner of self-discipline.                     It may find expression in a stern voice, deprivation of privilege,                     and quite often in the early years an expertly placed swat.                     One requirement is that the discipline be reasonable, consistent                     and understandable. The parent should show that it arises                     from affection.<\/p>\n<p>An authority on child training suggests that two approaches                     and two tones of voice are needed. When you want a child to                     do or not to do something that is not associated with danger,                     <em>ask <\/em>him: when it is to preserve him from harm, <em>order                     <\/em>him. Make certain words mean implicit obedience: &#8220;look                     out; go slowly; no!&#8221; and particularly &#8220;stop&#8221;. Don&#8217;t give such                     commands unless they are needed, but then give them in a command                     voice.<\/p>\n<p>Some parents abdicate their authority by threatening a child                     with a &#8220;bogeyman&#8221; or &#8220;the police&#8221; to reinforce safety discipline.                     Others weaken the role of punishment by handing out the same                     penalty for a death-threatening act like pulling an electric                     extension plug out of its socket as for a trivial offence                     like scribbling on the wall.<\/p>\n<p>To replace the forbidden fruit of dangerous activity, something                     safe must be provided. Learning something to do is quite as                     important for safety as learning the many things not to do.                     When forbidding a boy to climb on a fence where there is poison                     ivy or barbed wire, or on a tree with unsafe branches, a father                     needs to show a fence or a tree that is safe to climb. Climbing                     is all right, the lesson says, but one must choose the right                     places to climb.<\/p>\n<p>Parents should pass along their safety requirements to baby-sitters.                     A baby-sitters&#8217; course was started in Saskatchewan years ago.                     It provides a child safety handbook, a baby-sitter&#8217;s test,                     and a check list which is an example of the anticipation of                     danger emphasized in this <em>Letter<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The check list, in addition to telling about feeding, and                     bathing and bedding-down, tells the telephone number where                     the parents may be reached, the emergency telephone numbers,                     and what to do first, second and third in case of emergency.                     In the event of fire, for example, the first thing to do is                     to get the children out safely; then call the fire department                     from a neighbour&#8217;s house.<\/p>\n<h3>Preventing accidents<\/h3>\n<p>Good housekeeping &#8211; cleanliness and orderliness &#8211;                     is a fundamental of accident prevention. It removes the causes.<\/p>\n<p>Good housekeeping involves the arrangement of furniture,                     the disposal of scrap and the physical condition of the house.                     It makes sure that doors at the top of stairs are kept locked;                     that mops and pails and cartons and bundles are not placed                     in dark corners; that electric wires are not allowed to become                     frayed or kinked; and that objects are not scattered around                     where they may be tripped over.<\/p>\n<p>Falls compose a large and increasing proportion of the total                     accident mortality not only during childhood but in later                     life. Only motor vehicle fatalities exceed the toll from falls.                     The causes are innumerable: toys left strewn on the floor,                     frayed ropes on swings, extension cords stretched across rooms,                     small rugs on smooth surfaces, badly-lighted stairs, neglect                     to use rubber mats in bath-tubs, water or grease on floors,                     torn linoleum or carpet, stepping on or off a chair that is                     resting on a waxed floor.<\/p>\n<p>All of these are preventable falls &#8211; preventable by                     the elimination of the cause and carefulness in the doing.                     Everything climbed upon should be tested, and a hand-hold                     found: ladders, chairs, benches, step stools and boxes. Stairs                     should be provided with handrails and the steps should never                     have anything left on them. Put a marker of some sort &#8211;                     a strip of metal or a painted line &#8211; at the top and bottom                     of stairs that are steep or not well lighted. When carrying                     things up or down stairs don&#8217;t carry loads that will block                     your view.<\/p>\n<h3>Fire menaces everyone<\/h3>\n<p>The danger of death by fire is only as remote from you and                     your family as your preventive measures push it.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly all fires are due to human blunders. Having an alarm                     system, fire extinguishers and escape routes does not provide                     the security you can obtain by taking all possible precautions                     to prevent fire from starting.<\/p>\n<p>House fires in Canada are caused, according to the federal                     fire commissioner&#8217;s office, by: smokers&#8217; carelessness 47 per                     cent; heating equipment 16 per cent; rubbish and trash 12                     per cent; electric wiring 10 per cent; flammable liquids 4                     per cent; ashes 3 per cent; others (usually not connected                     with home fire safety) 8 per cent.<\/p>\n<p>Safety consists in the proper handling of potentially dangerous                     equipment and material. Heating apparatus must not be allowed                     to get too hot; rubbish should not accumulate; electric wiring                     must not be overloaded or unprotected by insulation; flammable                     liquids must not be stored indoors.<\/p>\n<p>Careless smoking in bed &#8211; and is any smoking in bed                     careful? &#8211; takes its toll through flames and asphyxiation.                     The practice is foolhardy because no one is immune to falling                     asleep without extinguishing the cigarette.<\/p>\n<p>Should a fire start, does everyone in the house know how                     to escape? There should be periodical reminders given, and                     fire drill carried out so that everyone&#8217;s role becomes automatic.                     Even in a great fireproof structure like the Royal Bank Building                     in Montreal there are posters displayed in every department                     telling what to do in case of fire. Preparedness is just as                     important in your home.<\/p>\n<p>A 28-page handbook, well illustrated, has been prepared                     by the Dominion Fire Commissioner, Ottawa, in collaboration                     with the Provincial Fire Marshals and Fire Commissioners.                     Copies of <em>Fire Safety in the Home <\/em>may be obtained directly                     from the Queen&#8217;s Printer in Ottawa or at Canadian Government                     book shops. The price is 25 cents. A companion booklet is                     entitled <em>Farm Fire Safety<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3>Poison lurks everywhere<\/h3>\n<p>Poisoning is a senseless, tragic thing because every accidental                     poisoning represents a human error or human negligence.<\/p>\n<p>The bell tolled in Canada in 1965 for more than 400 people                     who died of accidental poisoning.<\/p>\n<p>All household poisons and medicines should be kept out of                     reach of children. Even simple remedies may be dangerous.                     An adult who takes a harmless pill in a slight overdose may                     not suffer great harm, but when this effect is magnified by                     the smallness of a child the danger is real.<\/p>\n<p>Medicine cabinet folly is commonplace. We reach unthinkingly                     for a bottle of medicine and get hold of a poison-containing                     compound instead. The rule for self-preservation is: do not                     take or give medicine in the dark or when only half awake                     or without reading the label.<\/p>\n<p>An hour&#8217;s work with hammer and saw will provide a door shielding                     one or more shelves in the drug cupboard. These shelves are                     for poisonous or dangerous items, all of which should be clearly                     labelled. Ten more minutes will run a light from a nearby                     outlet, to be turned on when selecting a bottle or a package.<\/p>\n<p>Poison-control centres in some communities perform a useful                     service. They provide information about the poisonous substances                     present in household products which may be eaten or imbibed                     accidentally, and the methods of emergency treatment. If there                     is a centre in your area, enter its telephone number in your                     &#8220;Emergency calls&#8221; list.<\/p>\n<h3>Care with electricity<\/h3>\n<p>Keep electricity in its place and it is safe. Loose electricity                     plays no favourites: if mishandled it will kill an octogenarian                     as readily as a two-year-old.<\/p>\n<p>Examine lamp cords and extension cords frequently and replace                     them if they are frayed or if the insulation is hard and brittle.                     Be careful even when changing bulbs. A man was electrocuted                     when his finger slipped into the socket while he was putting                     a new bulb in his basement fixture. Do not fiddle with the                     inside of your television set, even if it is disconnected.                     Use no heavier fuses than 15 ampere in lighting circuits:                     others may overload the wiring and cause it to heat, with                     the danger of starting a fire.<\/p>\n<p>Look for the safety label on electrical and other heating                     equipment. Nationally recognized testing laboratories, such                     as those of the Canadian Standards Association, the Underwriters&#8217;                     Laboratories, the Canadian Electrical Association, the Canadian                     Gas Association, and the Association of Lighting Engineers,                     test and label most oil &#8211; and gas-fired and electrical                     heating equipment to accepted safety specifications.<\/p>\n<h3>A special place<\/h3>\n<p>The kitchen is one of the most dangerous rooms in the house.                     If all the hazards that exist in a kitchen were found in an                     industrial plant, officials would insist on protective devices                     and anti-accident drill.<\/p>\n<p>The kitchen is a combination factory, bakery, cannery, laundry,                     butcher shop, restaurant, household workshop, and children&#8217;s                     playground. Here, indeed, is splendid practice ground for                     the family safety council.<\/p>\n<p>It is an elementary precaution to turn pot handles toward                     the back of the stove, yet a number of children are fatally                     scalded every year when they bring down upon themselves a                     pot of soup or a saucepan of boiling potatoes. Women are fatally                     burned when their clothing catches fire from an open flame.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Under the sink&#8221; is a handy place to keep ammonia, soap,                     solvents, detergents, lye, furniture polish, silver polish,                     and drain cleaner&nbsp;&#8230; but &#8220;under the sink&#8221; is one of                     the most tempting places to a child. A two-year-old cannot                     be expected to differentiate between the dangerous things                     and such safe playthings as pots and pans.<\/p>\n<p>After all the warnings that have been given in school, on                     radio and television and in the press, it is hard to understand                     why anyone would store disinfectants, insecticides, rat poison,                     and other similar materials near food, food containers, and                     cooking utensils. But this dangerous practice persists to                     take its toll of lives.<\/p>\n<h3>To stay alive<\/h3>\n<p>Some personal and family activities have been outlined,                     but there is additional scope for saving of life through community                     action.<\/p>\n<p>The fatal accident menace must be attacked with a balanced                     programme in four major areas outside the home: research,                     to find safer products and practices; engineering, to add                     protection to equipment and utensils; enforcement of laws,                     to prevent carelessness by one from injuring another; and                     education, so that safe thinking and safe doing become part                     of our way of life.<\/p>\n<p>In many communities, parents have been the moving force                     behind safety measures. Doctors, who are familiar with the                     pain, fear and loss due to accidents, are making major contributions                     through advising parents on the principles of accident prevention                     and by promoting community programmes for safety.<\/p>\n<p>Safety education should direct attention to hazards and                     to the human factors responsible for fatalities, and tell                     how these may be met and overcome. This education starts in                     the home, progresses through school, and should continue among                     adults. The magnitude of the problem warrants speedy and earnest                     action.<\/p>\n<h3>The prudent mind<\/h3>\n<p>It is ridiculous that in an age of wonderful discovery of                     drugs and invention of devices to keep us alive the deadliest                     enemy of men and women is something that lies in their own                     hands to defeat.<\/p>\n<p>The hazard factor in living can never be wholly eliminated,                     but much can be done to reduce it.<\/p>\n<p>Life is too precious to trust to luck, and you can rely                     on your guardian angel or your St. Christopher medal only                     after you have done your best to guard yourself.<\/p>\n<p>If you have made provision for dealing with dangers that                     can be anticipated, then your mind is free to improvise what                     is needed to deal with the unexpected. If you make it a habit                     to avoid situations out of which accidents emerge, then you                     have resources to cope with new contingencies.<\/p>\n<p>Of this be sure: when a death occurs due to some act or                     omission, &#8220;I didn&#8217;t think&#8221; is not an acceptable or solacing                     excuse.<\/p>\n<p>It is good wisdom to allow prudence to keep us alive, and,                     anyhow, the fault of over-caution is preferable to the mistake                     of being killed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"rbc_letter_theme":[],"rbc_letter_year":[48],"class_list":["post-3748","rbc_letter","type-rbc_letter","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","rbc_letter_year-48"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>February 1968 - VOL. 49, No. 2 - Fatal Home Accidents CAN be Avoided - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/february-1968-vol-49-no-2-fatal-home-accidents-can-be-avoided\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"February 1968 - VOL. 49, No. 2 - Fatal Home Accidents CAN be Avoided - RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is an accident? Some people think of it as being a misadventure. Others dismiss it as an unforeseen or unexpected event. Many think of it as a matter of bad luck. In the interest of living longer it is a mistake to treat the word so offhandedly. 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Some people think of it as being a misadventure. Others dismiss it as an unforeseen or unexpected event. Many think of it as a matter of bad luck. In the interest of living longer it is a mistake to treat the word so offhandedly. 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