Households urged to check for hidden risks to avoid preventable injuries.
Sharjah: According to the Child Safety Organisation (CSO), an affiliate of the Sharjah Family and Community Council, many risks to children’s safety are hidden within the very places families consider safest — including homes, residential buildings and play areas.
As part of a new awareness campaign focused on falls and unintentional injuries, the organisation urged parents and caregivers to carry out regular safety checks in the environments where children live, play and move. It stressed that child safety should be treated as a daily responsibility, rather than a concern addressed only after an accident occurs.
The warning comes as international data continues to underline the scale of the issue. The organisation said unintentional injuries — including falls, drowning, burns, poisoning and road traffic accidents — remain among the leading causes of death and injury in children worldwide.
Global estimates suggest that more than 1,600 children and adolescents under the age of 19 die every day from injuries, many of which are preventable. The World Health Organization also identifies falls as one of the leading causes of serious injury and injury-related deaths among children.
According to the organisation, many childhood accidents are caused not by rare or extreme hazards, but by everyday household features. Items such as windows, balconies, staircases, chairs and furniture may appear harmless to adults, but can pose significant risks to children, who may climb, explore or reach beyond safe limits without fully understanding danger or consequences.
The Child Safety Organisation (CSO) explained that early childhood is marked by rapid physical development and a growing curiosity to explore the environment, while children’s ability to recognise and assess risk remains limited. Driven by curiosity, trust and a natural desire to learn through experience, young children often interact with their surroundings in ways that can make ordinary home and residential spaces unexpectedly hazardous.
The organisation stressed that fall risks go beyond windows and balconies. Hazards may also include furniture placed near edges or windows, unsecured staircases, elevated surfaces, shared areas in residential buildings, sharp corners, protruding edges, and objects that can help children access unsafe heights or increase injury risk if they trip or fall.
Seeing the world through a child’s eyes
Hanadi Saleh Al Yafei said genuine safety begins when adults learn to view spaces from a child’s perspective.
“Real safety begins when we look at a space through a child’s eyes. A place that seems ordinary to adults may feel like an invitation to explore for a child whose awareness of danger is still developing,” she said.“What we see as a window, corridor or chair may be seen by a child as a chance to move closer, climb higher or follow someone nearby.”
She added that children’s early behaviour is rooted in trust rather than recklessness.
“They trust the place around them, the people close to them and their new ability to move. This trust is a beautiful part of childhood, but it requires conscious care and continuous responsibility,” she said.
“Our role is not to make children afraid of the world, but to make the world around them more suitable for their age, needs and level of awareness.”
Al Yafei emphasised that preventing accidents should not be about assigning blame after incidents occur, but about building awareness within families and communities.
“We are not speaking about safety as a judgement made after accidents happen, nor are we placing responsibility on one party alone. We are calling for stronger awareness within families and the wider community that children do not see danger the way adults do,” she said.“When we understand this, prevention becomes more humane and more effective, because we cannot expect a child to protect themselves from a world they do not yet fully understand.”
Regular checks can prevent accidents
The organisation urged families to routinely inspect living spaces from a child’s eye level, considering what children can reach, climb, open or use in unexpected ways.
It recommended keeping furniture away from windows and balconies, securing barriers and protective installations, supervising young children in shared residential spaces, and ensuring they are never left unattended in areas that could provide access to heights or other hazards.
The CSO also highlighted the importance of educating older children about safe behaviour when playing with younger siblings and promoting a shared sense of responsibility within families to create safer environments.
In conclusion, the organisation stressed that prevention is not about overprotecting children or limiting their freedom, but about designing safer environments where they can explore, learn and grow while minimising preventable risks.
