A Word of Advice

21 August 1998

The People We Couldn't Live Without

Heroes are people we, quite literally, couldn't live without. To be a hero, you don't have to be on the news saving a baby from a burning building - though, this would, of course, make you look rather heroic! You should be considered a hero when you strap a child into a car restraint, because you're potentially saving a life. Or when you slow down outside a busy school crossing, you're performing a heroic act.

New Zealand could do with a few more heroic acts, because every year around 500 classrooms full of children are hurt seriously enough to require hospitalisation. Un-intentional injuries are the number one killer of young children in this country. Our children are twice as likely to die of unintentional injuries than British children and three times more likely to die of unintentional injuries than children in Sweden.

This should make us all wake up and think about what we can do to make New Zealand a safer place for children.

This week Safekids, an offshoot of the Auckland Starship Children's Hospital, made its contribution to encouraging more heroic actions, by holding the Kidsafe National Hero Awards. Individuals and organisations from 77 centres around the country were awarded for their efforts to prevent child injuries. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs would also like to acknowledge some industry people who have made a contribution to child safety:

• New Zealand cot manufacturers for agreeing to meet the continuing cost of maintaining a safety standard for household cots
• the Consumers Institute with its product recalls register, which is on their website at www.consumer.org.nz/recall/index
• Shimano and Sheppard Industries NZ Ltd recalled 15,000 bicycle cranks - this worldwide recall cost the company an estimated US$100 million
• Lego (NZ) for the voluntary withdrawal of the Ladybird rattle
• Lincoln Playcorp and Burger King for the voluntary recall of the Eye Spies toys
• the Warehouse and Kmart for their consistent approach to recalling faulty products.

And what can you do to improve New Zealand's safety record? In the next issue we'll provide some tips on making sure toys and infant furniture are safe for children. Meantime, be a hero and encourage your local retailers (especially second hand stores), motels, and caregivers to read the tips in the next issue to help them develop safety checklists for toys and infant furniture.