Action 9: Collaborate with Families About Safety

Action 9. Collaborate with Families About Safety

Narrator: Injuries are a serious health risk to young children, and many injuries happen at home. You can discuss children's safety with families and partner together to help them predict and prevent most injuries. Follow these steps to talk about and promote home safety.

Help families learn about common causes of childhood injuries and how they happen. Provide resources, such as a home safety checklist, to help families find and remove hazards at home. Invite family members to share their knowledge of their child's development and temperament to help them predict how their child might react to new skills and abilities.

When you talk with families about safety, start by acknowledging what they're already doing to keep their child safe. Have a conversation that invites families to share their successes and discuss their safety concerns, allows you both to share information, and respects the family's cultural perspectives and traditions.

Programs can share safety messages in many ways. For example, post signs and whiteboards with safety messages throughout the program. Include safety tips and family newsletters and social media. Invite Child Passenger Safety Technicians to an open house to inspect children's car seats and make sure they're installed correctly.

Encourage families to model safety practices at home and in the program. After all, everyone can practice pedestrian safety in the parking lot. As you celebrate children's development with their families, you can use these discussions as an opportunity to engage in safety conversations. Talking about an infant's nap schedule is a chance to share information about safe sleep practices.

Sharing their excitement that their baby is learning to crawl is an opportunity to discuss adding safety latches and outlet covers. Celebrating a child's first steps is an opportunity to discuss fall risks, safety gates, and removing hazards that are now within reach. When you include families in safety conversations, they are more prepared to look for and take steps to make environments safer, remove hazards, and reinforce safety roles at home.

Families, staff, and community partners can work together to create safe environments for children to learn and thrive. Families are an important part of a culture of safety. Collaborating with families supports the safety and well-being of children, families, staff, and communities.