How do child accidents happen?

This study describes how 402 child home accidents happened. It is based on home interviews of parents of children under five who attended a hospital accident and emergency department in a multi-racial area of west London. From the parents' account, the majority of these common domestic accidents--falls, poisoning, cuts, burns and scalds--happened when parental supervision was reduced, rather than because of household hazards. The implications for prevention are to give better emotional and financial support to parents rather than adopting traditional health education interventions to alter the environment.