EDITORIAL: Child-related accidents

Many children are injured, sometimes fatally, by products designed to be convenient for adults. Disturbingly, however, adult society has taken no effective action to tackle the problem.

Young children were killed in a series of fires that apparently broke out while they were playing with lighters. There are reports across the nation about serious accidents in which children's fingers or necks got caught in closing automatic windows on vehicles.

Children have been burned after touching hot equipment and have suffered health problems by accidentally swallowing drugs on a shelf.

Such accidents happen year after year.

A working group of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is discussing new safety regulations that would require structural changes to lighters to make it difficult for children to use them. The Consumer Affairs Agency is considering a system to collect unused lighters from homes. In Tokyo, 511 fires were caused by children aged 12 or younger playing with lighters in the past 10 years. The government has been far too slow to respond.

In 1994, the United States introduced new safety regulations concerning the structure of lighters. Certain data showed that the number of deaths and injuries due to lighter-related fires halved in four years.

For power windows, carmakers have developed a system that automatically stops a window from rolling up if there is an object in the way. But only a limited number of models come with such a safety feature for all the windows. The government should consider making the safety system mandatory.

Obviously, adults should take care to protect children from potential hazards by keeping a close watch on them and keeping hazardous products out of their reach. Parents or other guardians should be held responsible for accidents caused by serious failure in this regard.

But that is not enough to prevent children from getting involved in accidents. While it has become much more difficult for families and local communities to keep a protective eye over children, the risks lurking in their living environment have not decreased.

A flexible and effective system is needed to gather information about various accidents, identify their causes and evaluate the seriousness of the risks involved. The system should also enable the government to reduce hazards from the environment surrounding children by urging manufacturers to improve their products and taking regulatory measures, if necessary.

Tatsuhiro Yamanaka, a doctor who operates a clinic for children in Yokohama, acutely felt the need for such a system whenever he treated a child suffering from a burn or an injury.

Five years ago, Yamanaka started an "accident surveillance project" with engineering researchers. The project has tried to establish effective preventive measures by studying cases of children treated by Yamanaka and the National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo.

The team's suggestions for makers of rice cookers have led to the development of products that don't emit hot steam. After a child fell from playground equipment in a park, the local government took safety measures, such as placing rubber mats on the ground and installing railings for the stairs.

Unexpected accidents are the most common cause of death for children aged 1 or older. Preventing such accidents is an urgent policy challenge the government must tackle through flat-out efforts led by the Consumer Affairs Agency.

Yamanaka argues that inaction in the face of preventable accidents constitutes infringement on children's human rights. All adults must pay serious attention to his words.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 20