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2. Care should be taken on stairs especially when carrying articles.
3. Steps should be used when it is not possible to reach from the floor. Improvisation is
dangerous.
4. Special care is needed by those with disabilities.
Burns and Scalds (15). These involved 6 infants, 2 older children, 1 man and 6 women.
Causes
4 infants were scalded, in two of the cases by pulling tea pots off the table and in another a
4 month baby on the floor was splashed when the mother was pouring boiling water above her.
A man aged 37 slipped while carrying a large pot of tea - scalding himself. A boy aged 12 years
was scalded when a hot water bottle burst in his bed and an old lady was scalded when she spilt
water from a hot water bottle.
A baby of 8 months was burnt when an oil heater caught fire and a child of 18 months was
burnt when he touched against a hot pressing iron. A boy of 13 received burns after igniting
some methylated spirits with which he had been experimenting.
3 middle aged women received burns associated with gas stoves. In one case the stove
was not lit immediately and when lit exploded, in another a line of clothes fell on a lighted stove
and in the other a pan of cooking fat caught fire.
An old lady was burnt when a box of matches ignited in her pocket after she had Jit the gas
and another old lady was badly burnt and died after her clothes were caught alight by an electric
fire.
Conclusions
Here again precautions recommended by home safety authorities would have eliminated
most of these accidents.
1. Infants should be protected from burns and scalds by keeping hot things from their
reach and by not using overhanging table cloths which can be pulled down by the child.
2. Articles should not be hung over fires or gas stoves where they might fall and be
ignited.
3. Hot water bottles should be examined periodically for signs of weakness and should
also be covered.
4. Fires, including gas and electric fires, should be properly guarded.
FOOD CONTROL
The supervision of premises concerned with the preparation and manufacture of food for
human consumption has continued to receive energetic attention. Since the Food Hygiene
Regulations have been in operation much work has been done in securing improvements. The
provision of sinks for personal washing and for washing utensils and the supply of hot water
has been achieved in most of the premises concerned.
One aspect of food hygiene which has taken on a new significance is that of the slaughterhouses.
The Slaughterhouse (Hygiene) Regulations, 1958 and the Slaughter of Animals (Prevention
of Cruelty) Regulations, 1958 both came into operation on the 1st January, 1959.