help with safety in the home

[juicylucym]

I am a parent to a newly mobile 10month old baby girl and am also putting things in place ready to start up as a Childminder later this year.

I have a wooden TV unit which is rectangular shaped with a drawer underneath (for which I have safety catches) but also a gap about 10cm high x 100cm wide with my Wii and TV cable box in. I need to keep these items out to use but my girl keeps trying to pull out the boxes or poke them.

What can I do to make these items safe and will pass Ofsted safety regs?

[juicylucym]

Have got 2 freestanding uplighter lamps that are easily accessible, and was told that i would need to secure them?

How? Is it easier to replace them?

Thanks!

[sarah707]

lamps are usually best behind things with the cables out of sight and reach.

The rest - well it depends on your risk assessment - what are the hazards, risks to different ages of children - and controls you put in place to stop children being hurt?

Only you can answer that really.

hth :D

[AgentTink]

I too have a tv cabinet like yours with drawers and a shelf with my Wii, Sky box and DVD player on. I do not have these covered, and the children can touch them, however they are not able to access any wires as they are at the back all tucked away. I find that by simply saying to all the young children i have had, "ah-ah" and moving them away from area if they will not stop touching, has meant quite quickly that the children learn from a young age not to touch. Objects like this you would write up in your risk assessment about how you have thought about the hazard and how you might prevent them. For example children are never left alone in my sitting room if they touch these items. When not in use the dvd player and Wii are switched off at the mains etc

In regards to the uplighters, i do have one but it is in the corner of my room behind my sofa so not accessible by children. It is up to you to risk assess how easy it is for children to reach them, and if they present a toppling hazard how you would prevent this. If securing them somehow or putting them out of reach for example behind a sofa is not a option, it may be easier to buy different lights. At the end of the day it is our home and some objects are part of it, however i have always went on the side on caution and would rather eliminate any potential risks by getting rid of the object if it cannot be secured.

[blue bear]

haing had a little man feed my video machine because it was hungry, I now always put toy boxes in front of the tv cabinet so they cant reach it.

[cathtee]

My tv cabinet has handles so I tie them together so the lo's can't open it and a firm Ah Ah if they try :thumbsup:

[mummyMia]

My TV cabinet is exactly like yours. It was no problem at my inspection, Mrs O did not mention it at all. It does annoy when the little ones constantly push the buttons and try to fiddle with the equipment. I have tried to teach them not to, but one year olds just seem so fascinated by it. When I come to replace the cabinet one day, I will definitely be buying the style with doors. :laughing:

[MessybutHappy]

I have a limited number of "not to touch" items - the DV/Box, computer, oven, fire guard for example. By keeping the list small but non-negotiable, the children will soon learn which are no go areas, and their parents may thank you too!

You can't remove all the hazards (the things that could cause harm) in your home. Sometimes all you can do is to reduce the risks (by reducing the chance of the harm happening or reducing the scale of the harm if it does). So keep your lamps, but make them unreachable, keep your TV stand, but keep the DVD machine powered off, take the children out onto the pavement but use a harness to keep them close. Let the baby practice sitting, but put cushions around to soften the blow when she does topple over!

HTH

[juicylucym]

Thank you so much for your helpful replies, i am now moving the lamp to behind the tv unit and have pushed the digiboxes, etc to the back of the unit and am considering putting up a high shelf to put these on from now on!

Thanks again - my first post and got some really useful info!