If You’re Happy and You Know It – Don’t Trap Your Hands!
It is well documented that avoidable injuries are costing schools millions of pounds in compensation.
Of these injuries, some of the most serious – and that resulted in the biggest pay outs – were trapped fingers. Last year, Wakefield Council paid out a whopping £46,000 after a child’s hand got trapped in a door. In the same year, local authorities in Tameside paid out £17,109 for finger related injuries and those in Birmingham £10,101.
According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA), every year about 30,000 children trap and seriously crush their fingers in doors at home, school, nursery or the shops, with up to 1,500 injuries requiring surgery and ongoing medical attention. In all age groups, boys are more likely than girls to be admitted to hospital owing to injury. The total number of emergency admissions for the year ending March 2003 shows 7,139 male admissions, compared with 3,957 female admissions.
A paper by Dr Doraiswamy entitled Childhood Finger Injuries and Safeguards recorded the results from 283 primary school pupils who suffered finger injuries over a six-month period, 62 of which required treatment for bone or joint injuries. The majority of the 283 youngsters with finger injuries were aged five or under, which places them in the most at risk group. The study also revealed that younger children tend to injure their fingers more frequently on the hinge side of the door and older children on the lock side.
Schools To Take Action
The truth is that many of these often, very distressing injuries are entirely preventable, meaning that the emphasis is on schools to take safety precautions to reduce their sheer volume, leaving children to safely develop their senses through learning and play. At Cardea, we’ve invested some 15 years creating products with the express purpose of protecting children from injuries. Investment in such products and services by schools will go towards ensuring they are not held liable to any potential, not to mention costly, compensation claims.
So far, we have provided more than one million Fingershield anti-finger trapping devices, which are currently protecting tens of thousands of little fingers worldwide. Fingershield is unique to Cardea and works by covering the gap between door and hinge, completely removing the danger posed to children. In addition, we developed Happy Hands, which are colourful little door stoppers that can be quickly and easily fitted to door handles, preventing slamming doors on fingers.
To find out more about all the innovative safety and security products that we have to offer, please visit our shop>
