Each year 600,000 children under the age of five are injured in the home. This shocking figure highlights the fact that items which seem innocuous to adults can very easily be damaging to a child. Take all this hard surfaces, sharp edges, hinges and utensils that cause kids harm and combine them with the natural exuberance of children on holiday and it’s not hard to imagine the increased potential for accidents.
According to Helen Richardson of the Child Accident Prevention Trust, the greatest contributor to accidents in caravans, is also their defining feature. “The principal reason behind accidents in caravans is the confined space,” she says. “Given that a caravan has all the danger areas of the house – such as the kitchen, bathroom, and living room – squeezed into a small space, it’s hardly surprising that the potential for incidents increases.”

HAZARD WARNINGS
We took Richardson to a local caravan dealer to show us what to look out for. She points to a sharp metal corner directly below a bunk in one van. “Picture this,” she says. “Your child’s sitting on their bunk, bored and restless. They decide to leap down and rush outside to play. This metal corner is right at eye height.” It’s an all to easy to imagine scenario.
The risk of accidents in a caravan is made worse by the fact that the surroundings are not just unfamiliar to kids; parents, too, are out of their normal environment and less able to spot hazards. As reader Jan says on our forum at www.practicalcaravan.com: “My two-year-old broke her arm falling of the settee in our caravan last week.” Ironically, she had put her daughter on the settee to keep her as far away from the hob as possible, in a bid to prevent any accidents.
Such mishaps may seem unavoidable, but the important thing to remember is that we can make them less likely. Take a tour around your potential purchase searching for potential black spots. Don’t just wonder at the capacity of the fridge; try to think what harm it could do to a child.
The first step – quite literally – is looking at access into the van. Fellow caravanner Bob McDowell’s one-year-old son William slipped between the step and the caravan, suffering an horrific bump on the head. His injury could have been significantly less serious if the door had not had such a brutally sharp lower corner. William’s experience is by no means unique, as we learnt from reader Keith Simpson. “My daughter slipped badly when entering the caravan. The step was wet, and she badly grazed the front of her leg. She still has a scar eight years later.”
As we toured a selection of caravans, old and new, we found hazardous steps and doorways aplenty. Not only can steps have sharp corners and edges, but often it is only when you face the reality of an uneven pitch that you realise how unsteady they can be. The worst step had numerous sharp metal edges, looking rather like a home-made job. Even with the ideal step (see our product test, page 72), care still needs to be taken if the ground is uneven or the step is wet. Metal sills, for example, are enough to trip up an adult, let alone a toddler.
According to government statistics, most accidents in the home involving children happen in the living room – and the living space of your tourer holds more than its fair share of danger spots. Also, the largest number of non-fatal injuries occur when children fall but most of these are slips on the same level, rather than some dramatic tumble down the stairs, for example.
Of the caravans we looked at, many seemed to have been designed by those oblivious to the behaviour of children. Sharp edges were rife, as were pointed corners and exposed hinges. In one van from a highly reputable manufacturer we found a nasty aluminium edge at toddler height in the main isle. Another German caravan from the early ’90s featured sharp corners on the split door, vicious enough to cause a nasty laceration, and there were also some screws that were left glaringly exposed on its grab handles.
As reader Paul Barry so neatly sums up on our forum: “Our children banging their heads on every part of the caravan imaginable. It seems that caravan manufacturers haven’t cottoned on to the fact that young children are the same height as worksurfaces, as still they leave them protruding.”
Burns and scalds are the third most common injury to children in the home – and caravans pose an even more risky environment because of low worksurfaces and the potential for people to bump into each other. Hot drinks are just asking to be grabbed or spilt and, even after as much as 20 minutes, can still be hot enough to burn. Kettles, too, pose a serious risk. As we discovered during our inspection, numerous caravans have a convenient low-level surface, with plug – ideal for a kettle. But Richardson says don’t be tempted: “Never cut corners or do things in an innovative way.” A kettle on the central unit of the front dinette may be a simple solution for two adults, but with children around it makes sense to leave it safely to the back of your kitchen top.
Just as there is no clear division between the living and kitchen areas in most caravans, neither is there a clear division in the dangers. Burns and scalds seem the obvious peril. With children running round your feet, they quite likely to fall. Glass-fronted ovens are prone to stay hot long after the cooker has been switched off and if a child loses its balance, little hands can stray on to the scorching surface. When cooking in your caravan try, as much as possible, to use the rings to the rear of the hob and keep handles facing in. And keep kids well away from oven doors. Super-efficient caravan heaters pose a similar threat as the oven. As the metal casing heats up, the danger increases. Situated in the middle of the caravan, for maximum effect, it is also in a prime position for children to stumble against it or to fiddle with the dials.

CRUSHING CURIOSITY
Caravan kitchens also hide a host of features where fingers can get trapped and crushed (the expert’s term for this is ‘entrapment’). We encountered every variation on this theme, including heavy wooden lids supported by flimsy plastic catches and weighty glass cooker covers that can so easily slam on to metal hobs, potentially trapping digits in between. It’s vital to check that when propped up, surfaces stay in position or, that hinges are stiff enough to prevent the lid crashing down. With everyday use of the kitchen area and the frequency with which its units need to be rearranged, there are countless opportunities for little fingers to get flattened. Even one of the newest caravans that we inspected had a loose-hinged hob cover that could do some serious damage should your hand get in the way.
Equally risky is the experience of setting up bunk beds. These seemingly innocuous places of play and sleep can be a minefield of safety issues. Modern bunks with the fold-out metal frame are scary enough for adults to erect and certainly pose a threat to small fingers. Although children may want to help, the erection of beds, and folding caravan tables, are best left to the grown-ups.
Once the beds are up, there’s also the danger of children falling from them. Solid sides are preferable as they avoid the risk of children getting stuck between rails or hanging precariously in nets. Safety guards should come as standard in any new caravan.
Particular care needs to be taken when buying second-hand. Always check to see if bunk barriers are provided. In one caravan of ’80s vintage, we uncovered a terrible flaw. A generous-sized family van with bunks to the rear, the upper berth was held in position with two plastic catches. We released the catches on the wooden folding contraption with some care, but just as our safety expert said, “mind it doesn’t fall on you,” the whole bunk came plummeting to the floor. For a child in this situation, the consequences could have been dire.
The last place to check is the smallest room. It may not be as obviously risky an area as the main part of the caravan, remember the washroom tends to be a storage area for all manner of dangerous objects, from scissors, to medication, and of course the toilet chemicals. Although the vast majority of cases of suspected poisoning turn out to be relatively minor, requiring little or no treatment, it can’t be ignored that every year 37,000 children under the age of 14 are taken to hospital because it is believed they have swallowed something harmful. Such risks can be minimised if you make use of high-level storage, especially in the bathroom. Medicines and other dangerous items should be safely stashed up high and, if there’s no room for the toilet chemicals, then an outside locker would make a sensible alternative.

CRACKING SAFETY
Such simple solutions really can make all the difference. Simple checks sort out the nightmare vans from the super-safe. It is just a case of knowing what you are looking for. Fortunately for consumers, modern caravan manufacturers view child safety as paramount and are constantly improving their designs. We found very few problems in new vans.
Says Andy Spacey, Design Manager for the Swift Group: “Many of the Swift Group models are designed specifically for families and children and must conform strictly to the European Standard EN 1645-1:1999, Habitation Requirements Relating to Health and Safety.” The designers have a lengthy list of features to which they must comply. Of this list, many criteria relate specifically to children. For example, drinks cabinets are positioned high up and rigid safety guards are fitted on all bunks as standard. Lockable gas compartments are a must, and electrical control panels are positioned out of childrens’ reach. Swift even adds some nice touches of their own, to make the caravan more child-friendly, including low level pull-switches, should a child need the bathroom during the night.
Bailey plays its part, too. Gerrian Baker, design engineer for Bailey, says: “Bunk ladders have to be pulled in all directions to ensure that deformity cannot be achieved by budding six-year-old gymnasts.” When asked how safe a van can be he says “Kid-proof caravans? Nearly. Watch this space – we’re working on it.”
Richardson was more concerned at the level of hazards she saw in second-hand tourers. Many families are tempted by the economy of buying a used caravan but, in buying a bargain, you may end up with something which is far from ideal in terms of child safety. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t buy, though. Have a good look around for potential hazards then decide whether they can be rectified. For example, corner guards, which can be bought from Mothercare or Boots, are an inexpensive way of rendering sharp edges less vicious.
As in the home, it’s impossible to completely ‘child-proof’ a caravan, but knowledge of the potential for accidents, and of effective safety measures, can greatly reduce the risk of serious injury. Also, although it is often objects that are associated with injuries, a child’s behaviour is a key factor. A few family ‘rules’ while on holiday, like calling out before emerging from the washroom, could save a child from being knocked against a hot oven door.
Simple measures such using short or curly flexes with kettles, and fitting safety catches to drawers containing sharp cutlery and knives, make all the difference. Many such items, intended primarily for the home, can easily be bought from your local hardware store. For more details visit Child Accident Prevention Trust’s website at www.capt.org.uk. All this may make for scary reading, but the last thing you should do is cancel your holiday or worry unneccesarily. Remember, by making yourself aware, you’ll minimise the risks and still have a wonderful time. Prepare your van in advance and you can set off on holiday safe in the knowledge that if ‘accidents will happen’ they will only be small ones.