Transcript Document

Good Egg Safety
Keeping Scottish Children Safe –
The rate of incorrect fitment on child restraints,
and why so many are not fitted correctly
What is Good Egg Safety?
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A national child car seat campaign
We have been running since 2001
We have had continuous support from
Road Safety Scotland since 2002
Checked more child car seats than any
other organisation – over 22000.
In our checks there has been a 43%
growth in incorrect fitting over last 5 years
Last year in Scotland, 64% of seats were
incorrectly fitted
Our Aim…
To reduce the number of children who are killed and seriously injured on
Scottish roads each year
We aim to reduce the number of children who are killed or seriously
injured by:
• Raising awareness of the dangers of travelling with un-restrained, or
incorrectly restrained children.
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Reduce the number of major errors made on child car seats
Educating parents so they can make fully informed choices
– Raise awareness of the safety benefits of keeping babies and children rear
facing for longer
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Providing opportunities for parents to have their car seat checked
Raising awareness of the dangers of buying second hand, and the
importance of buying from knowledgeable staff
What are the problems?
The problems
In Scotland last year, 64% of child car seats were incorrectly fitted.
There are a number of reasons why a child seat may not be fitted correctly,
however, the overriding reason is that Parents, Grandparents and Carers are
not aware of how to correctly fit and use a child car seat. There is a distinct
lack of information available to parents and carers when buying a child seat.
Many do not realise that not every seat fits every car (even ISOFIX restraints),
and simple oversights of dangers, such as strapping a child in while wearing a
puffy coat, or failing to pull the seat belt tight enough – which all put the child
occupant in danger during a collision.
Parents love and care about their children, and they buy and use a car seat
because they want their children to be safe.
Common ways to purchase a seat
There are three common ways parents and carers buy a child car seat:
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Online
Retail Store
Second Hand
The following slides will look into the dangers of each method of purchase.
Online
Many Parents choose to buy online for ease of
the purchase, or to get a good deal.
However, when buying online:
• Parents/Carers receive no/little advice
• They do not know if the seat is compatible to the
vehicles it will be used in
• They do not know if the seat will be compatible to
the child, as many parents go by the age
approximation, over the weight limit.
• There is no trained professional to help the
Parent/Carer to fit the seat.
Retail Stores
You would hope that buying from a retail store with trained staff members would
automatically mean that you will buy the correct seat for the car and child.
However, this is not always the case.
Good Egg Safety has recently undertaken a Scotland wide mystery shopping
program, using funds from Scottish Government.
Our mystery shopping highlighted that 75% of retail stores in Scotland are
failing to give the correct advice. We expect stores who are selling and
profiting from child seat sales to provide an advice service, so the customers
child will be safely restrained.
The Good Egg Retailer Charter
The Good Egg Retailer charter allows customers
to look up a store near them, who has passed a
Good Egg Safety mystery shop
The retailers who pass the mystery shop are
listed on the retailer charter and advertised for
free. They also receive an approved retailer pack,
which includes free guides, window sticker and
leaflets.
The retail stores who fail are contacted, and we
work with them on where they need to improve.
We then mystery shop 3-6 months later.
Questions staff should ask:
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What does the child weigh
What height is the child (particularly important with new iSize seats!)
What car will the seat be used in?
Will the seat be used in any other cars, and what are those cars?
Do those vehicles have ISOFIX?
Staff members who work to best practice should also:
• Advise that a child is safest travelling rear facing, to allow a customer to
make a fully informed choice about their child’s safety.
• Fit the seat in the rear, and highlight the airbag if fitting in the front
• Demonstrate the seat to the customer
Second Hand
Many Parents are aware that buying a child seat second hand is dangerous and avoid doing
it. However, some families truly feel as though they have no choice.
Buying a child seat from an unknown source is akin to handing your child over to a stranger.
A Parent simply would not allow a stranger to look after their child, without full vetting of the
individual first. Using a seat with the history unknown, is taking a strangers word for it that
your baby will be safe.
There are many dangers with buying a second hand car seat from a stranger:
• It may have been involved in a collision
• It may be damaged
• Parts may be missing
• The instructions are often missing
How can these problems be tackled?
Continued education about the importance
of buying a child seat new
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Highlight the dangers of not knowing the history of a seat
Ensure parents are aware of the dangers of second hand seats
Making sure staff give the right
advice at point of sale
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Ensure that Good Egg Safety retailer guidelines are followed
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Ensure parents buy from retailers who are listed on The Good Egg
Retailer Charter
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Investment in staff training
– Good Egg Safety and TRL have developed new, independent training
for Road Safety Professionals and Retailers that will equip them with the
knowledge they need to be able to check and fit car seats correctly.
Ensuring there are places parents can
have their car seat checked
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Good Egg Safety offer free child car seat checking throughout Scotland.
This allows parents to have their car seat fitment and use checked,
regardless of where they bought it from
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Ideally, there would be a network of professionals who are able to check
child restraints.
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Road Safety Professionals can attend Good Egg Safety and TRL training
which will equip them with the knowledge of how to check child car seats
Can You Help?
We are launching the 2015 child seat
checking road show, which will travel all
over Scotland from Monday 8th June.
We would hugely appreciate any support
of the Road show, from tweeting about
clinics, to social media posts
encouraging parents to have their car
seat checked!
2015 Initiative
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Launch in Edinburgh on Monday 8th June
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45 checking events across Scotland including 10 Police enforcement
days
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16 car seat giveaways on social media and through online survey
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Second phase of mystery shopping retailers
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Various press releases during campaign
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Promotion of new advert
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New parent pamphlet distributed through Emma’s Diary GP packs.
Key online platforms
www.goodeggsafety.com
Help us to promote:
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Advice and tips on
choosing and fitting car
seats
Seat selector tool
Retail charter
Road show schedule
Common errors
Ask the expert section
Competitions
Parent downloads
Key online platforms
NEW Advert
Help us to promote:
•NEW Parent advert
•Advising parents to ensure
their child’s car seat is
correctly fitted.
www.goodeggcarsafety.com
Almost 5000 views on Youtube
since launch 2 weeks ago.
Key online platforms
www.goodeggsafety.com/blog
Help us to promote:
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Sign up to mailer function
New Blog item at least
once per week
Written by child car seat
experts
Top tips on everything car
seat safety
Latest news
Currently 4000+ subscribers
Key online platforms
Facebook/scottishgoodegg
Help us to promote:
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Active parent community
Daily posts
Car seat giveaways
Latest news
Road show schedule
Ask the expert messaging
Almost 5000 followers
UK/Scotland combined
Key online platforms
twitter/goodeggsafety
Help us to promote:
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Active parent community
Active professional
following
Latest news
Previously listed as #15 out
top 500 Health & Safety
organisations on Twitter.
Almost 1400 followers
UK/Scotland combined
Thank You!
Any Questions?