Steve Cole of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in the UK shares his advice on how to have a safer Christmas.
When pondering how best to avoid unfortunate incidents over the festive period, Ray D’Arcy spoke with Steve Cole, Executive Head of Policy Campaigns and Public Affairs at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in the UK.
Ray asked Steve how the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents works – does it record all the accidents that happen in the UK and if so, how does it do that? Steve gave him the executive summary:
"We piggyback off different types of databases. So the government has to record certain types of accidents, so we generally just bring together all these different sources of accidents that the Scottish government publish, you know, the English government publish and they’ll put them in different areas. So you might get some – yeah, so we basically just tie everything together in a bow, I think would be the best way of summarising it."
Those little things that trip us up over the Christmas period – does Steve have a file for those? Yes. Yes, he does. Kind of:
"We have a big press release, and we talk to a lot of people every year about it, cos look, it’s one of the big times of year where there is an increase in accidents, you know, along with – in the UK – things like Guy Fawkes Night and New Year. Basically, big occasions where everyone gets together and, you know, puts up decorations and ignites things."
We’ve all been there. But what are the most common accidents associated with Christmas and other times of public celebration?
"Trips and falls. That’s a huge one. That’s the really big one. So, like in the UK, we saw 7,229 patients admitted to hospital last December with hip fractures and that was up 20% on the year before. And that is particularly, unfortunately, that’s essentially look after your granny there because it’s usually a higher risk of women and a higher risk of women over 80. So, that’s a big one. That’s the really big one."
Ouch. That’s a lot of fractured hips. What else?
"The big ones are generally also either people ingesting things, particularly children, you know, might eat something that they shouldn’t do and, obviously, fires and burns because you tend to have more open fires, candles, that sort of stuff."
Given the fact that we know – or at least the RoSPA knows – that this time of year is a big one for accidents, what can we do to prevent at least some of those hip fractures from happening?
Most people’s houses will be busier with relatives calling round, with decorations and trees, with presents and food, so Steve’s advice is the keep an extra eye out for things that could precipitate an accident:
"One of the really basic tips that we say to people is just, you know, take your time about things because it can be quite a manic time of year and try and tidy up, try and clear the floors. Try and make sure that things like, you know, you’ve got your Christmas lighting cables, they can often be quite inconspicuous, you know, especially these ones you that get now that are relatively thin and dimly coloured, you can miss them quite easily."
The lesson is think about where people walk in your house and how you can keep it clear of semi-hidden obstacles. And think twice before getting up on a ladder without someone to help keep you and the ladder steady.
The other areas highlighted by Steve were making sure toys for children are age-appropriate, watch out for slippery surfaces outside and try to drink in moderation. And don’t overload plug sockets, with triple adaptors plugged into triple adaptors.
As Steve put it memorably: "Look, a good piece of mind check in this, you know, if you think you’ve seen it in Home Alone, don’t do it."
Can’t top that piece of advice.
You can hear Ray’s full conversation with Steve by clicking above.
