Most indoors children’s accidents occur in children’s rooms, where children typically spend their time. The need for security in children’s room is therefore enormous. Examine carefully all movable and fixed components of the space that will accommodate the children and make sure that no hidden risks and dangers are lurking.
- The floor in the children’s room should not lurk any dangers, which means that it should not have any inclination or stairs. Also, the floor should be free of loose objects that can become traps at the feet of kids. Because of this, all games must be stored, especially at the end of the day. Wood or laminate are the ideal materials for the surface of the floor, while carpets should best be avoided, as children often during playtime get burns from friction with their surface.
- Libraries and shelves that the children’s room may have should have a low center of gravity, be very stable, be positioned away from the bed and not overloaded with objects that might fall (in case of an earthquake or if the furniture is moved). For example, heavy books, bulky items or items from fragile material, are best to be placed at a low shelf.
- The windows should be successive or sliding and glass windows should be covered with a film that will hold glass pieces in case of breakages.
- If the children’s room has a balcony, it must be equipped with vertical bars (not to serve as steps), the gap between the vertical elements should not be over 10cm and the height of the bulwark should be at least 1.10m. Also, the area of the balcony should not have chairs, tables or other objects that can serve as steps that the child can use to climb on the railings.
- If the same room is shared by children under 3 years, then there shouldn’t be any games or objects in the room that could injure them during playtime (e.g. sharp) or cause choking.
- Because all children love to hide under the bed, tables, libraries and other furniture, it is best that these items don’t have sharp edges, corners or other dangerous objects (e.g. nails).
- All security principles applicable to the children’s room must be transported and applied throughout the house. The main guiding principle in designing, decorating and equipping a home is user safety especially for minors.