ABSTRACT
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 510 Hidden Hazards ........................................................................................................... 511
Controlling Hazards ......................................................................................................... 512 Manufacturers .............................................................................................................. 512 Caregivers ................................................................................................................... 512 Hazard Control Hierarchy ............................................................................................ 513 Eliminate Hazards with Design .................................................................................... 514 Eliminate Hazards through Guarding .......................................................................... 515
Child-Resistant Caps ............................................................................................... 515 Medication Delivery Aids ......................................................................................... 516 Engineering Design .................................................................................................. 516 Household Chemical Containers ............................................................................. 517 Guarding and Caregivers ........................................................................................ 517
Warnings as an Injury Prevention Tool ............................................................................ 518 How to Make Effective Warnings ................................................................................. 519
When to Warn ........................................................................................................... 519 Where and How to Warn .......................................................................................... 519 How to Prioritize Warnings ....................................................................................... 521 Whom to Warn .......................................................................................................... 523
ANSI Z535.4 Warning Design Guidelines .................................................................... 524 Additional Warning Design Guidelines ........................................................................ 525
International Organization for Standardization and American National Standards Institute ................................................................... 527
Warnings that Target Children ........................................................................................ 527 Designing Warnings for Children ................................................................................. 528
Pictorial Symbols ......................................................................................................... 530 Alternative Warning Methods ....................................................................................... 531 Educating Children about Hazards ............................................................................. 532
Testing Warning Effectiveness ........................................................................................ 534 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 536 Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................. 537 References ...................................................................................................................... 537
INTRODUCTION
Injury prevention is especially important for young children. They have not developed cognitive abilities, which may be necessary both to appreciate the magnitude of the hazards they encounter and to know how to avoid them (Figure 14.1). Parents and other caregivers should take appropriate action to protect young children from hazards. This may not occur for various reasons:
People differ. Caregivers and the extent of care they give will differ, too. People rely on their own experiences. By seeing through the looking glasses of their experiences, caregivers may not be attuned to how a child sees the same thing. People may be overconfident. As a child matures and extends his or her abilities, the parents may believe he or she is capable of appropriately dealing with situations or common consumer products. Children behave in unexpected ways. Caregivers may falsely believe their children are better equipped to deal effectively with hazardous situations than is actually warranted (Hiebert and Adams, 1987).
