Growing up, the beach used to be the go-to spot for holiday fun, but after one too many kids drowned or got carried away by the waves, we stopped going. But that didn’t stop the bad news. I can remember sitting at home, missing the beach trips, while eating rice, and someone rushing in with another sad tale of kids drowning or getting carried away. There were lots of superstitious stories around these sad incidents, but they only served as a distraction.
These were a tragic reminder of the first rule in child safety: if everyone is watching the kids, then no one is watching the kids. Always use closed-loop communication to assign and confirm a watcher.
Another fun activity gone wrong was pool parties. It was the in-thing until one too many drunk people fell into the pool and drowned at a particular time that everyone else didn’t seem to notice, and this led to lots of people boarding up their pools.
Another change that wasn’t a fun activity but a nice interior décor that had to go, was large glass doors, the wall-to-wall kinds that no matter how many stickers were put on them, people still walked right through them. Many parties ended when we had to rush another victim of this to the hospital.
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Weeks ago, the child of an NFL player in the United States drowned in the swimming pool and I remember thinking that we’ve had two similar incidents here in Nigeria over the last few years and now is a good time for an important message because how long will you have to wait before the next incident. I have had incidents of hot water spills, I remember even plugging in an electric cold-water heater and not putting in enough water, and it got hot and exploded.
Here are some child-proof safety procedures that you can implement at home: Secure cabinets and drawers; cover electrical outlets; Install safety gates; keep hot items out of reach; lock doors; Keep the bathroom safe; secure heavy furniture and gadgets; teach your children about safety; secure and keep locked up all medications; silence can be deadly; if it cuts lock it up.
I believe that we have to understand this and I know every generation says it, but the kids of this generation are a lot more active than we are, and maybe that’s a good thing as part of an evolutionary trend. They need to be smarter and faster than we were, so they need to be more curious, and it’s our job to protect them as they go along that journey.
Ovigho Richard Okojevoh is a Scrum Master Certified, Project Management & HSE Professional, and the Executive Secretary of the Society for Health, Safety, and Environmental Education
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