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80
Home Safety
The Home Safety Committee during the year arranged for the production and
distribution of a second volume of the handbook "Sense about Safety" . This included
material compiled from the substance of a series of talks given by experts to the
Committee and was commented upon favourably in a leading article in a local newspaper.
Talks as under were given to the Home Safety Committee:-
Dr. J.P. Burns, Deputy Medical Officer of Health spoke on "Home Accident
Emergencies and First Aid" . This talk was subsequently summarized in the weekly
bulletin sent to all medical practitioners in the Borough.
Mr. H. Daile, F.B.O.A. gave a talk on "Good Vision and Safety" . He mentioned
that of 164 people screened at the Islington "Safety in the Home" Exhibition in 1960,
87 were found to have sight below the accepted standard, 55 in one eye and 32 in both
eyes. These findings must be an indication of widespread visual defects.
Mr. W. C. Bartlett, Chief Public Health Inspector gave a talk on the subject of
"Buy for Safety" which was related to the campaign of the Royal Society for the
Prevention of Accidents during this year.
The Home Safety Committee also discussed the high incidence of fires caused by
oil heaters, especially in accommodation occupied by immigrants, not all of whom could
read the instructions for using these heaters,
A programme of lectures for the National Hospital Reserve held at Whittington
Hospital included a session on 'Accidents in the Home' , in which the Medical Officer
of Health was invited to take part.
Area Managers of the National Assistance Board, co-operated in the distribution
of pension book wallets, overprinted with home safety advice, which were purchased on
the recommendation of the Home Safety Committee, A member of the Public Health
Committee suggested in connection with the foregoing that similar arrangements might
be implemented for the mothers of young children by the distribution of suitably
printed advice on family allowance book wallets. 6,000 such wallets were purchased
from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and were overprinted with home
safety advice. By arrangement with the Divisional Medical Officer of the London
County Council, the majority were distributed through Welfare Centres in the Borough.