Top 5 Summer Safety Tips
Kids and adults alike are drawn outdoors as the summer heats up. Safety experts including emergency room doctors and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recognize a sharp increase in accidental injuries in the summer.
With proper caution, many of the top injuries can be avoided.
Summer safety concerns
Whether it is the carefree vacation mood of summer or simply that spending more time outdoors leads to more dangerous activities, the number of injuries steeply rises in June, July, and August.
Protect yourself and your family by being on the lookout for these injury risks:
- Lawn mowers: A sharp blade spinning at ankle level is, unsurprisingly, a safety threat. Children and adults both head to the hospital with mower injuries in the summer. Do not let kids operate or ride on a mower. Wear sturdy, preferably steel-toe shoes when mowing and watch out for objects that can be kicked up by the blade.
- Stings: Bees, wasps, and other stinging insects are just an inconvenience to most people but for the 3% who are allergic, they are life-threatening. Some things you can do are avoid wearing strong perfumes, keep sodas covered, and stay on the lookout for signs of allergic reaction if someone is stung.
- Swimming pools: Drownings sharply rise every June and July and diving injuries account for nearly 5% of all spinal cord injuries. Be sure children do not have unsupervised access to pools and practice water safety.
- Fireworks: Roughly 9,000 people are injured by fireworks each year and most of the injuries happen at home. Watching a professional display is the safest choice. Even common children’s sparklers burn at 2,000 degrees, enough to cause a burn.
- Playgrounds: Jungle gyms and other playground equipment leads to ER visits for many kids each summer. Supervise children on playgrounds and inspect the equipment before letting kids play on it.
Legal recourse for injuries
Some accidents are just unlucky, but others are someone’s fault. Each person has a duty to make sure whatever they do does not harm someone else; breaching this duty can constitute negligence. When a person or business that makes or sells a product is negligent in its design, manufacture, or advertising of a product, it can give rise to a product liability claim.
When a summer injury is caused by someone else’s negligence or a defective product, the victim has legal rights. He or she may be entitled to receive compensation including payment of past and future medical expenses and lost wages. The compensation may also include payment for other losses including emotional distress and pain and suffering.
Each case is unique; there is no cookie cutter injury claim or standard path to justice. To find out the legal options in your case, contact a New York personal injury lawyer for a free confidential consultation.
The Sanders Firm has been aggressively fighting for the rights of injury victims in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Queens and NYC for over 45 years. Call 1-800-FAIR-PLAY to arrange your case review today. Resources
- Federal Occupational Health, Keeping Summer Breezy and Fun, https://www.foh.hhs.gov/calendar/summersafety.html
- WebMD, The Top 7 Summer Health Hazards, https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/features/top-7-summer-health-hazards?page=1
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Fireworks Information Center, https://www.cpsc.gov/en/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Centers/Fireworks/
