How to Keep Children Safe at Home: Hair Straighteners Dangers

I always try to be very careful at home as little man is quite clumsy. He falls down more than your average four year old and he rarely cries when he falls down. When he was little, we blamed his overlapping toes for all the falling around, but it hasn’t improved after his feet surgery.

Apart from keeping knives and sharp objects out of reach of children, electrical beauty products can also be very dangerous.  I was surprised to find out that 1 in 10 burns among children are caused by hair straighteners left unattended by parents, and the number of burns have doubled in a few years.

Beauty Burns - Hair Straighteners Dangers
Beauty Burns – Hair Straighteners Dangers

Burns from heated hair appliances are quite painful, I love my hair straighteners and my heated rollers, but I’ve burned my forehead and ears a few times when I was rushing to get myself ready. According to the research, I am not alone as nearly half of all adults also received a burn from a heated hair appliance.

Electrical Safety First, UK electrical safely charity, is committed to reducing the number of injuries caused by electrical accidents. They have a very important campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of children burning themselves on unattended hair straighteners.

Hair Straightener Dangers
Hair Straightener Dangers

Hair straighteners can get extremely hot, reaching temperatures of over 220C (think of a very hot oven) and take up to 40 minutes to cool down once switched off.  There are simple ways to protect your children from burns and electrical accidents.

How to keep children safe at home:

  • Keep hair straighteners and other electrical beauty appliances out of reach of children
  • Use a heat proof pouch to store the product after use, so it can cool down in a safe place
  • For serious burns, seek medical attention immediately
  • For non-serious burns, run the affected area under cold water

* The video below may upset you, but I had to share to help spread awareness of the campaign:

For more information, please check http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/electrical-items/health-and-beauty-products/

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