Children’s hazardous substances injuries drop 25 Jul 2016
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Hon Dr Nick Smith
Minister for the Environment
24
July 201
Children’s hazardous substances injuries
drop
The number of children hospitalised with
hazardous substances injuries dropped 40 per cent from 163
per year to 96 per year over the past eight years, a report
released today by Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith
shows.
“We are making good progress in improving the safety of children and young people from hazardous substances,” Dr Smith said in releasing the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) report at the National Poison Centre in Dunedin.
“Under-fives are most at risk and their hospitalisation rates have dropped by 30 per cent, from 32 per 100,000 to 23. The rate for five to 14 year olds has more than halved, from 12 to 5.2 per 100,000. Another good result is in the 15 to 24 year old group, where hospitalisations have fallen from 23 to 12.3 per 100,000.
“The overall number of hospitalisations across all age groups has dropped from 578 to 438. The latest figures are for the 2014 year, and data collection started in 2006.
“These improvements show measures to improve the labelling, containment and awareness of the risks from hazardous substances are working but there are still too many people, particularly children, being injured. The greatest risks are from common hazardous substances such as petrol, soap powder, household cleaners, garden sprays and paint products.
“This issue is quite personal for me, in that I inadvertently used paint stripper as mouth wash when a tradesperson accidentally left the product in the bathroom of my Wellington flat. The injury burned my throat and vocal chords, leading to my only ever hospital treatment.
“The key to lowering risk from hazardous substances is ensuring they are stored and labelled appropriately. We need people to be careful not to casually leave chemicals around and not to store them in unlabelled containers.
“Toddlers are still the most vulnerable, with injury rates three times that of other age groups. Many injuries occur because products such as petrol, dishwashing powder and oven cleaner are left within reach of young children. Making sure such products are immediately unpacked and safely stored when families get home from the supermarket is a simple way to reduce injuries.
“The next step in the Government’s programme to further reduce harm is a partnership project between Housing New Zealand and the EPA. The programme is targeted at ensuring homes have safe storage for hazardous substances and working with tenants to improve the safety of children.”
Monitoring the Effectiveness of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 can be downloaded from www.epa.govt.nz/saferhomes
ends
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