The Alliance of Better Dwellings (ABD) is proud to launch Home Safety Week, 25th November – 1st December.
According to RoSPA, more accidents happen in the home than anywhere else, resulting in an estimated 6000 deaths each year and hundreds of thousands of injuries requiring hospital treatment (1). That compares with about 1700 deaths on UK roads, on which an enormous amount of effort, emotion and expense is incurred in preventing, including ‘Road Safety Week’, while little or nothing is spent on preventing in-home casualties.
ABD research, based on a loaded survey with 2000 respondents, shows that many people are living in fear of serious injury or death in their own homes. 25% of respondents are afraid to open an upstairs window in case they fall to their deaths and 35% are afraid they might fall down stairs, so are actively looking to purchase a Bungalow. 20% are afraid to cook a meal in their own kitchen due to the fear of injuring themselves on sharp objects or hot pans. Many were also shocked when we explained the dangers of Particulate Matter emissions from toasters (2) and Nitrogen dioxide from gas hobs (3), levels of which can be many times greater than in outdoor air.
ABD spokesperson Homer Hater said: “There is clearly a safety crisis in UK homes worthy of a National Emergency being declared. Aside from the safety crisis, fear of cooking a meal in your own kitchen means more people are ordering fast food takeaways for delivery, which is contributing to the national obesity crisis. We are calling on the government to discourage people from living in houses, which are killing people and the planet. Instead there should be an urgent return to sustainable cave dwelling.”
We are also advising people injured in the home to walk or cycle to hospital rather than call a toxic, planet killing diesel-powered ambulance.
National Home Safety Week is sponsored by: Casualty Windows Ltd, Stairways to Heaven Ltd, Lethal Kitchens Ltd and Cave Dwellings UK – the UK’s sustainable living Charity.
Notes for editors
The above Press Release is obviously not a real one but it makes a serious point about the lack of a sense of priorities in Government. However the links below are real:
(1) RoSPA – Facts and Figures:
https://www.rospa.com/Home-Safety/Advice/General/Facts-and-Figures
(2) Daily Mail – Making toast exposes you to more pollution than standing in Central London:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6714141/Making-toast-exposes-people-toxic-air-pollution-standing-busy-traffic-junction.html
(3) Daily Telegraph: Your kitchen could have worse pollution than a city centre street:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/atmosphere/9314947/Your-kitchen-could-have-worse-air-pollution-than-a-city-centre-street-research.html
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