Consumer Product Safety Commission

Back-To-School Safety Checklist

When you drop off your child at school, use this checklist to make sure these hidden hazards aren’t waiting to cause injury or death.

  1. Drawstrings on Jackets and Sweatshirts — There should be no drawstrings on hoods or around the neck. Drawstrings at the waist or bottom of jackets should extend no more than 3 inches to prevent catching in car and school bus doors or getting caught on playground equipment.
  2. Loops on Window Blind Cords — Cut the loop and attach separate tassels to prevent entanglement and strangulation in window blind cords. One child a month strangles and dies in the loop of a window blind pull cord or inner cord. Keep cords out of childrens’ reach. Install cord stops to prevent formation of loop in inner cord.
  3. Bike Helmets — Buy a helmet that meets one of the safety standards (U.S. CPSC, Snell, ANSI, ASTM, or Canadian), and insist that your children wear the helmet each time they ride their bike. About 900 people, including more than 200 children, are killed annually in bicycle-related incidents, and about 60 percent of these deaths involve a head injury. More than 500,000 people are treated annually in U.S. hospital emergency rooms for bicycle-related injuries. Research indicates that a helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by up to 85 percent.
  4. Soccer Goals — Make sure that the athletic director or the custodian anchors the soccer goals into the ground so that the soccer goal will not tip over and crush a child.
  5. Playgrounds — Check the surfaces around playground equipment at schools and parks to make sure there is a 12-inch depth of wood chips, mulch, sand, or pea gravel, or mats made of safety-tested rubber or fiber material to prevent head injury when a child falls. Each year, more than 200,000 children go to U.S. hospital emergency rooms with injuries associated with playground equipment. Most injuries occur when a child falls from the equipment onto the ground.
  6. Recalled Products — Make sure your child’s school has up-to-date information on recalled toys and children’s products. Schools, daycare providers, and parents can receive recall information by e-mail, or in the regular mail free of charge by calling the CPSC hotline, or writing to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. 20207.

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Send the link for this page to a friend! Consumers can obtain this publication and additional publication information from the Publications section of CPSC’s web site or by sending your publication request to info@cpsc.gov.

This document is in the public domain. It may be reproduced without change in part or whole by an individual or organization without permission. If it is reproduced, however, the Commission would appreciate knowing how it is used. Write the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Office of Information and Public Affairs, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814 or send an e-mail to info@cpsc.gov.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $700 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC’s web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.asp. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

Miss Domestic on December 27th, 2006 | File Under Parenting Tips, School Tips | No Comments -