The Prepared Home

Avoiding household poisoning accidents

Every year many people suffer some form of poisoning after ingesting something they have found around the house. Remember many things we use everyday and take for granted can cause harm. For example a few iron pills can kill a child.

1 preventing children gaining access to poisonous substances

• If it is possible to buy products with child resistant tops then do so. This refers to household cleaning products as well as medicines. This will mean that children will take longer to get to the thing that could hurt them.
• It is better to have all the things that could harm children high up in a cupboard where a child will find them hard to reach. In other words having cleaning materials under the sink is not a good idea. It is safer to leave medicines in the bathroom cabinet than beside the bed.
• Add locks to cupboards to make it even harder for children to access things that would harm them.
• Dangerous items are best kept in rooms that are not left unattended very long. This probably means that they are safer in a busy kitchen than in a bathroom where children can take advantage of it being quieter and get up to more mischief.

2 avoid confusion

• Keep all dangerous products in their original containers with their original labels as these often have details of what do if they are accidentally swallowed or spilt on the skin. If it is necessary to seek medical help taking the original container will help them work out the correct treatment as quickly as possible.
• Do not put a dangerous substance in a container which used to hold a safe substance. In other words, do not put weedkiller in a pop bottle just in case someone picks it up and drinks it without realising what it is.
• Don't let children play with empty containers that have contained dangerous items in case they think there is no problem playing with full ones.
• Do not store poisonous substances in the same place as food just in case someone picks up the wrong thing.
• Check use by dates carefully. Go through the medicine cabinet regularly and throw out anything that is out of date.

3 dispose of poisons carefully

• Old nonprescription drugs can be flushed down the toilet although for prescription drugs it is better to consult a pharmacist to see if you should return unused medicines to them for safe disposal.
• Make sure any spillages are dealt with promptly in case a pet decides to investigate them or they cause other problems. Be careful to protect eyes and skin as you do do so. Take care with the rags or whatever else you use to clean up the spill.
• If you don't buy more than you need then you won't have the problem of disposing of the excess.
• Don't put dangerous chemicals on to one side and forget about them as that could lead to problems later.
• Dispose of chemicals appropriately to reduce the rsk of harming the environment. if you have a large amount of dispose of seek advice from the Environmental Health department of your local council.

4 follow the instructions carefully

• If the medicine bottle says shake before use then shake before use. When strychnine was a common ingredient in medicines some people were poisoned by it because they had not followed the instructions on the medicine bottle.
• Pets can be poisoned by chemicals applied without being diluted sufficiently.
• If the label says use in a well ventilated area then do so.
• Do not mix chemicals especially ammonia and chlorine bleach. this mixture gives off toxic gases.

Further information

The Child Accident Prevention trust (CAPT) offer a series of advice sheets including one on poisoning. These are downloadable from this site in pdf format.

The DTI have produced a safety booklet called Stop Children from swallowing Hazardous Chemicals. This is downloadable as a pdf file from a page which offers a variety of safety leaflets.

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