Home Safety for Landlords and Parents

I was really pleased to be asked to give advice to RBS NatWest Homeowners/Landlords on Health and Safety at home.

In this article I would like to share the advice with you. This article is based around Landlords and what they can do to protect children in their property’s, but it is also something parents and guardians can do as well to ensure their children’s safety in their own homes.

As a health and safety adviser I spend a lot of time talking about how we can make workplaces safe but what about the place we call home?

Being a landlord myself, I know that morally I want anyone living in my property to be as safe as I can make them, this is not only a moral but a legal and financial obligation!

What are Landlords legal obligations when it comes to renting out their property?

The main one is to make sure that the rented property is safe and free from health hazards, this could be seen as a hazard that could cause illness and or physical harm.

Often overlooked are the children that could be present as tenants. Although there are no specific legal requirements based around children, they will fall under the main duty of care from the landlord. As a parent your child’s safety will be your number one priority but it is not always the landlords, this could be because they do not have children and not tuned into the dangers or the property is listed or old and only a few moderations can be made to do as much as possible to comply with the law.

For a landlord that cannot fully ensure that the property is “child friendly” it is reasonable to suggest when advertising the property that it isn’t child friendly, I am sure there is nothing worse for a tenant to get to a point of finding the right home and then to be told that children are not welcome and I have seen cases of this, so to stop disappointment have transparency at the beginning.

To add to this, it is illegal for a landlord to refuse tenants on the grounds that they have children, so as I mentioned before having transparency to begin with is so important.

What else makes a property safe for children?

It is amazing the number of hazards that are relatively innocuous to us that actually can cause life threatening or life changing injuries to our children. Children and infants love nothing more than to explore their worlds, they are little adventurers, adverse to risk and cause their parents no end of worry! And to add to that they put everything in their mouths!

Loose cords from blinds can cause strangulation to young children.
Curtains with long trailing cords and decorative tie backs can also be hazardous. To prevent this install cleats to wrap cords around and to keep them out of reach and you can also get child safe blinds and ties.

Tall and heavy free-standing furniture like chest of draws and wardrobes can also be toppled by children as they start to climb, make sure these are also secured to the walls, many companies now provide the safety equipment to do this, especially if you are buying equipment for a child’s room but don’t stop there!
Sharp corners on low furniture can hurt young children, particularly toddlers just learning to crawl. You can use corner protectors to prevent this.
If you are installing new worktops in the kitchen for your property you might want to purchase tops with rounded edges as a posed to squared, the stop young children hitting their heads.
Stairgates can be installed at the top and bottom of each staircase in the property to prevent falls. You can get pressure gates that adhere to the walls so you don’t have to drill into your property, but they are not as robust as a fixed gate so don’t place these at the top of the stairs, they can be used at the bottom.
Bannisters and railings that are more than 6.5cm or 2.5 inches wide can represent a choking hazard. Place boards or nets to cover the gaps to prevent infants from putting their heads through.
Low windows can cause lethal falls to infants and children. Safety catches can be installed and make sure that furniture which young children may climb onto are not near either high or low windows.
Make sure all glass in the property is safety glass, this has a higher shatter rate than standard glass. If you are renting the property out furnished then ideally do not install glass top tables or furniture, if it is glass topped make sure it is to the correct British standard (BS 7376 and BS 7449)
Fireplaces in the property should be properly guarded and the guard should encase the whole fireplace and be fixed to the walls to prevent toppling over.
Doors are always a big cause of injury to small children as it is very easy for them to get their fingers trapped. Install door holders to prevent them from closing doors on their hands.
Household chemicals that are kept in low level areas need to be secured against infants and children. Chemicals and detergents like bleach, dishwasher and washing machine tablets are potential poisons and must be kept securely. Cupboards can be secured with magnetic locks or special adhesive strips to prevent them from being opened by children.
Where the front door can be opened from the inside without a key and is within reach of a child install a child lock or doorknob cover to prevent children from leaving the property.
If your property has cat flaps or dog flaps (pet door) these can pose significant dangers to young children. Many children have sustained fatal injuries after escaping houses through pet doors. Remove the pet door if your property is not pet friendly or warn your tenants about it.
Water features and ponds in the garden are such a nice focal point but sadly infants can drown in just 2 inches of water, fence off or securely cover the pond to prevent drowning.
Extension cables should be kept well out of reach of children to avoid strangulation. It is also worth monitoring the use of extension within the property to prevent a fire hazard. Coiled up extension cables must be fully uncoiled to prevent a fire hazard. Speak to an electrician to see about the suitability of plug guards to sockets to prevent children putting their fingers into them.

What other additional safety features could attract families?

Something that is overlooked although will not cause a serious injury to an infant or child are carpet tacks, these can sometimes be exposed through a worn underlay or carpet, this caused problems to a child that is crawling or bottom suffering, in particular on the stairs.

Although fire/smoke alarms do not need to be hardwired in a rental property at the moment, it might be worth considering. When the batteries are running down the alarm makes a beeping noise, this can keep children and adults awake and what sometimes happens is the parent removes the battery but then forgets to replace it! Or they have just put their child to bed, they are going to cook their evening meal and to avoid setting the smoke alarm off the batteries are removed. It is seriously worth considering having the smoke alarms hardwired in to prevent tampering like this. As a landlord you now have done as much as you can to keep you tenants safe in this aspect.

Having internal doors that close properly in a property is a must, this will then reduce the chance of children getting hurt.
Radiator covers would be a very welcome sight to many parents, as we know radiators get extremely hot and having the cover will prevent burns.
Outside areas like decking need to be maintained well to prevent slips and trips.
Fences and walls need to be in a good condition to prevent collapse and big trees are safe and stable.
Vermin traps need to be kept out of reach of children as they do carry poisons.