Halloween Safety
Whether you love or loathe it, Halloween is here to stay… So Halloween Safety is vital. Many people eagerly await Halloween and love the excitement around Trick or Treat and fireworks – but for an awful lot of people it can be extremely stressful and frightening. This is particularly the case for a lot of small children, the elderly and pets. Here are some suggestions as to how you can make things safer for your family and less stressful for those who don’t relish this time of year and ensure it is an enjoyable time for everyone.
Most parents’ worst worry at Halloween is simply that their child will eat too many sweets. However, Halloween can also be a time of burns and falls, and sadly, car accidents. In fact, data from America suggests that you are twice as likely to be hit by a car at Halloween than any other night of the year.
These top tips should help to keep you and your family safe at Halloween and ensure that the evening remains memorable for all the right reasons.
Halloween Safety – Pumpkin prep
It is fun designing and carving pumpkins, but every year there is a catalogue of injuries resulting from this. Pumpkins have a tough-skins and a slimy interior, consequently people frequently end up accidentally stabbing themselves whilst creating their intricate designs. By all means encourage your child to come up with the design, but please take charge of the carving yourself, or supervise extremely closely, to avoid them injuring themselves with a sharp knife.
If you have younger children, head out early at dusk so you can be home and safely back inside before older revellers go out. Teenagers often approach Halloween in a more boisterous fashion, and this can be intimidating for little ones. Some of the more extreme costumes can be extremely frightening and could give them nightmares,
Make sure the children have eaten something nourishing before they start consuming sweets. This will also help prevent a spike in their blood sugar.
Halloween Safety – Costume Caution
Masks can restrict a child’s vision making it difficult for a child to see hazards such as other people, obstacles, naked flames, cars and bikes.
Try non-toxic face paint instead. Make sure it is fully removed at the end of the night to avoid irritation.
Ensure costumes fit well and don’t pose a trip hazard, such as a long dress. Footwear should be comfortable and secure. Avoid high heels or ill-fitting shoes. Make sure costumes aren’t restrictive but that they do allow your child the full range of motion in case they fall or slip.
Be aware long capes can be stepped on by others and could choke the wearer. They can also dangle into naked flames and pose a major fire risk.
Add your children’s name and your contact number in the costume, in case they get lost and hold their hands securely. Better still, if they are old enough, get them to remember your mobile number by heart.
Fancy dress costumes
Fancy dress costumes are usually neither warm or waterproof. Wear warm clothes underneath and be ensure you do not to get too cold. Take a waterproof in case it rains.
Fancy dress costumes are not subject to the usual flame-resistant regulations and many are extremely flammable. Be extremely careful to avoid naked flames and be aware of any floaty or dangling parts of the costume that could pose an additional fire hazard near lit candles.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards and the Child Accident Prevention Trust have issued specific safety tips for Halloween costumes.
Loose clothing can catch fire if it gets too close to a burning candle. The key safety trip if you’re going out to scare, is to know what to wear.
If possible, buy from a reputable store or website. Cheap imported costumes may not meet UK safety standards and may carry fake safety labels.
Look for a costume with a CE mark. This doesn’t mean it won’t catch light. But it has been tested for fire safety so it should burn more slowly. There is a new safety symbol, the UKCA (UK conformity assessed mark) which has been introduced as Britain plans to leave the European Union.
Fire safety and costumes
Campaigns following the horrendous burn injuries suffered by Claudia Winkleman’s daughter have resulted in the British Retail Consortium introducing stricter fire safety tests for children’s dressing-up costumes. Many reputable retailers and manufacturers in the UK have signed up to this voluntary code. There should be a label that stating: “This garment has undergone additional safety testing for flammability”.
Encourage children to layer up. If children wear clothes under their dressing-up costumes, there will be a layer of protection between the costume and their skin. This can help protect their skin if their costume catches fire. Be careful with tights and leggings that can melt onto the skin.
Without scaring them, talk to children and teach them to Stop, Drop and Roll just in case the worst happens. The instinct is to run. It Is a good idea to practice at home stopping, dropping to the ground, covering their face with their hands, and rolling over a few times to put out the flames.
Candles and lit pumpkins always add to the spooky atmosphere but can be dangerous. Keep them well out of the way from trick or treaters, don’t put them on steps or paths. Keep them clear from any Hallowe’en decorations that might catch light.
Remember not to put candles on a surface that may burn. And, in all the excitement, don’t forget to blow them out when you’re done.
You may want to switch to LED / flameless battery-powered candles for extra safety (but please make absolutely sure the battery compartment is secure as button batteries are corrosive).
If your child is carrying a prop such as a sword or axe, make sure it is rubber or soft plastic so it will bend if the child falls onto it.
Halloween Safety – Burns
Despite all the precautions, things can go wrong. Burns are extremely common this time of year and during the four weeks around November the 5th, around 1,000 people will be injured from fireworks. Of these accidents, nearly 600 are likely to occur at home or private parties and nearly 400 accidents involve children under the age of 13.
First Aid for Burns:
Hold the affected area under cool, running water for a full 20 minutes. Keep the casualty warm and look out for signs of shock. Read more here.
If clothing is on fire, remember: stop, drop, wrap and roll.
Try to prevent the casualty from panicking or running – as any movement or breeze will fan the flames and make things worse – Stop. Help the casualty drop to the ground and wrap them in a blanket, coat, or rug to smother the flames. Protect yourself from the fire. Roll the casualty along the ground until the flames have been smothered.
Halloween Safety – Visibility
Take a torch or flashlight. Most phones have a torch function. Ensure everyone’s phone has sufficient charge.
Opt for light coloured costumes or ones with fluorescent markings so your children (and you) are more visible in the dark.
Add reflective tape to the front and back of dark outfits, so your children can be clearly seen by motorists and cyclists. Or wear glowing wristbands or necklaces.
Increase your visibility by putting your sweets in a white plastic bag or white pillowcase.
Halloween Safety – Sweet safety
Be aware that the sweets being offered may not be the freshest or most hygienic. Discard anything unwrapped or even slightly unwrapped.
Do check any sweets or drinks before you let your child consume them.
Don’t eat anything homemade unless you are confident you know who made it.
If your child has a nut allergy screen all the sweets yourself. You can’t guarantee the homeowner will have remembered to do this.
If your child has a nut allergy get them used to speaking up about it.
Remember that hard sweets, popcorn, chewing gum can be a choking risk to excited children.
Don’t let your child run with sweets in their mouths. Lollies have been known to go right through the child’s hard palate if they fall on them.
Halloween Safety – on the roads
Always hold little one’s hands and be prepared, just in case something suddenly scares them and they panic and bolt.
Don’t criss-cross the road when visiting houses. Instead walk up one side of the street, cross the road carefully in a group, and then visit the houses on the opposite side of the road.
Trick or Treating often takes place alongside busy roads where a panicked child could easily get hit by a car. Calmly reiterate road safety rules before you set out.
Carry the child’s sweet stash for them. A child who drops a sweet in the middle of the road may not think twice about bending down to pick it up, regardless of what’s coming down the road.
Supervise your children and regroup after each visit and make sure you stay together. Ask an adult to be in charge of doing a quick headcount.
Halloween Etiquette
There is an unwritten rule during Halloween that if a house owner welcomes visitors, they place a lit pumpkin clearly visible from the road.
If there are no decorations and no lit pumpkin, you should therefore assume that the people living there do not wish to be visited and move on.
If you are in a large group, stagger the flow of children to the door so the owner isn’t swamped all at a once.
Many people, but particularly the elderly, small children or people with autism don’t enjoy Halloween and find it overwhelming, intimidating and scary.
Ensure children remain polite and always say thank you for the sweets.
Halloween Safety – the Don’ts
The paradox of Halloween is that it breaks all the usual parenting guidance and turns Stranger Danger rules on their head. This is the night we encourage children to accept sweets from people they don’t know and to open the door to strangers.
Remind children they shouldn’t go with anyone they don’t know. They shouldn’t get into anyone’s car they don’t know. And should never enter a stranger’s house.
Advise them not to visit houses that are not well lit or that do not have the lit pumpkin.
Don’t take shortcuts across peoples’ garden, there may be obstacles such as clothes lines or hazards such as ornamental ponds you can’t see in the dark, it is also just rude! Stick to the designated path.
Older children going out together
Make sure they stick in a group of at least three.
Ensure they have your contact number and each other’s contact number so they can call you in an emergency and can regroup if they become separated.
Work out a short and safe route with them. Ask them to stick to it.
Agree a designated meet-up or return time. Set the alarm on their phone to remind them or make sure they have a watch.
Remind them about road safety as when they are in an excited group they can often cross roads without concentrating.
Inspect their sweets and drinks on their return before they consume anything.
Those Welcoming Children for Trick or Treating
Make sure your doorway is well lit.
Clear away trip hazards such as wet leaves, garden hoses or children’s play equipment.
Ensure sure there are no naked lights or flames around. Instead of putting a tea light in a pumpkin use a battery-operated candle or LED.
Be aware some children have nut allergies so try and avoid giving out those sweets. Or have alternatives such as stickers.
If you have small children, they can be terrified by a stream of scary people coming to their door so consider limiting the number of times you answer the door or remove the battery from the bell to limit noise.
Pets can also find the doorbell ringing and the commotion on the doorstep very unsettling, so limit their exposure to the noise and offer lots of reassurance.
Similarly, make sure your pet is secure and doesn’t run at or scare children at your door.
Halloween Safety for Drivers
Be aware peak trick or treating times are between 5.30pm and 9.30pm.
Allow plenty of time for your journey and be extra vigilant especially in residential areas. Be prepared for children running out from between parked cars or across the road without looking.
Always enter and exit driveways cautiously. Read more here.
Follow these guidelines and have a safe Halloween.
Written by Emma Hammett at First Aid for Life
First Aid for Life is an award-winning, fully regulated first aid training business providing tailored first aid courses for groups and individuals. Our trainers are highly experienced medical, health and emergency services professionals. All our courses cover first aid for burns, CPR, choking and most common medical emergencies and adults, babies and children.
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It is strongly advised that you attend a fully regulated Practical or Online First Aid course to understand what to do in a medical emergency. Please visit https://www.firstaidforlife.org.uk or call 0208 675 4036 for more information about our courses.
First Aid for Life is a multi-award-winning, fully regulated first aid training provider. Our trainers are highly experienced medical, health and emergency services professionals who will tailor the training to your needs. Courses for groups or individuals at our venue or yours.
First Aid for life provides this information for guidance and it is not in any way a substitute for medical advice. First Aid for Life is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made, or actions taken based on this information.
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