At the end of 2012 ESC gave £5000 in funding to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) as part of the Electrical Fire Safety Fund.
The money was given to help support a Northern Ireland campaign which aims to raise awareness of the dangers of hair straighteners for children.
The campaign came about after there was an increase in the amount of children attending A and E in Belfast with burns from hair straighteners.
As these hair appliances can reach temperatures which exceed 200 degrees and can take up to 40 minutes to cool down completely, the danger to children in particular is considerable when you take into account the fact that children’s skin is 15 times thinner than adults and is much more likely to result in considerable burns.
The campaign aims to encourage straightener users to turn them off, unplug them, store them in a heat resistant bag and finally store them in a place away from the reach of children.
The campaign has been dubbed with the name “Too Hot to Handle” and will run until March of this year.
Included in the line-up for the campaign are various activities from encouraging health and social care students to pass on safety messages to organising local events for parents and young people on child safety and lobbying manufacturers and retailers to supply heat resistant bags with straighteners.
The ESC’s Director General, Phil Buckle said that the ESC are very happy to be supporting the campaign and that their grant schemes mean they are able to be a part of campaigns like this with organisations like RoSPA. He went on to say that electrical goods in homes are commonplace now and it is important that people understand risks and take steps to protect themselves and their family.
Written by Sara Thomson
