This month, there have been a series of fatal accidents where young children are believed to have accidentally fallen from their home balconies or bay windows.

How can tragic accidents be prevented?



(Osaka Broadcasting Station Children's Danger Coverage Team)

Two-year-old boys one after another...

On the 5th of this month, a 2-year-old boy living on the 4th floor of a housing complex in Toyonaka City, Osaka, was found collapsed on the premises and later died.



The bay window in his room was open, and the bed was placed under the bay window.



The police are investigating the detailed situation, assuming that the boy may have fallen out of the window while he was on the bed.



3 days before.


On the 2nd of this month, a 2-year-old boy fell from the 25th floor of a high-rise apartment in Chiba City and died.



It is believed he accidentally fell off the balcony.



According to the Consumer Affairs Agency, 21 children under the age of 9 fell from buildings and died in the five years until 2020, according to the Consumer Affairs Agency.



Of these, 8 people fell from the veranda and 4 people fell from the window.

Overcoming handrails that exceed safety standards

A recent study also found that young children climb over balcony railings that exceed safety standards.



Last year, NPOs working to prevent children's accidents conducted experiments on 116 children aged 3 to 6 at nursery schools in Kyoto and Kanagawa prefectures.



The height of the handrails on the balconies above the second floor, which is stipulated as a safety standard by the Building Standards Act, is 1 meter and 10 centimeters.



We prepared fences from 1.2m to 1.4m and verified whether children could climb over them without scaffolding.

As a result, more than 60% of the 3-year-olds climbed over the 1m 20cm fence.


In addition, more than 70% of 5-year-olds climbed over a 1m 40cm fence.



The average time was just 10 seconds.

Mikiko Ohno, director of the NPO Safe Kids Japan, which conducted the experiment, said, "No matter how high the fence on the balcony is, it won't prevent you from falling. Furthermore, when you're about two years old, you can bring your own chair and build a foothold to climb over. To prevent accidents, it is important to devise ways to prevent children from going out on the balcony alone."

"Open the window and climb the fence..."

How do people in the city feel about the child's fall accident?


Some people said that they had a near-miss experience.

A mother with a 5-year-old child said, ``When my child was 3 years old, I was playing alone in the child's room, and when I thought it was quiet, I opened the window and climbed the fence. I was unexpectedly doing it without permission," he said.



Also, a mother with a 4-year-old and a 0-year-old said, ``Sometimes I can't pay attention to the older child while I'm looking after the younger one.I try not to put anything on the balcony.'' was



In addition, a mother with children aged 6, 3, and 0 years old said, "I tell my children that the veranda is a dangerous place. It is the most painful and saddening thing to have an accident when you are at home. I think I have to wear it," he said.

I have fallen from the 3rd floor...

I was also able to hear from a woman who experienced falling from the third floor when she was a child.



A woman in her 40s in Ibaraki Prefecture, when she was in the first grade of elementary school, tried to slide over the handrail of the spiral staircase in the children's house after school, but she accidentally fell from the third floor to the ground.

About the situation at that time, the woman said, "Luckily, I fell from my buttocks and didn't get seriously hurt, but I might have lost my life. I remember being surprised. Immediately, worried adults rushed over to me, and I thought they would be angry with me, so I immediately lied and said, 'I fell from the second floor.'"



She said that at the time it was common for her to step over her railing on the stairs in elementary school, so she played without thinking of the danger.



After that, she became an adult and has two children.

The woman said, ``Children act out of curiosity without thinking about danger. rice field.

Crime prevention goods become fall prevention goods

Double locks are attracting attention amid a series of falling accidents involving children.



For about 30 years, a company in Ikuno Ward, Osaka, has been selling "auxiliary locks" as security goods to prevent people from entering from the outside.



However, since about three years ago, there have been an increasing number of inquiries about how to prevent children and elderly people with dementia from leaving without realizing it.

The company offers about 10 types of auxiliary locks for around windows, some with removable locking "knobs" and others mounted high up on the window to make it more difficult for children to reach.

Yuichiro Tatsumi, managing director of Nomura Tech, said, "I would like you to correctly assess the environment in which you live and take measures. We are moving forward,” he said.



However, it cannot be said that these auxiliary locks are widely known.



In an Internet questionnaire survey conducted by the Consumer Affairs Agency on children's safety, targeting 5,000 men and women aged 15 and over from June to July this year, it was found that auxiliary locks were used to prevent windows from opening wide as a countermeasure against falling accidents. What I was wearing was over 10%.



Nearly half said they were unaware of the use of supplemental locks as a countermeasure.



It's important to keep an eye on your child, but it's pretty hard to keep looking at it all day.

Mikiko Ohno, director of the non-profit organization Safe Kids Japan, said, "Young children can climb over the balcony fence in about 10 seconds, so even if you take your eyes off them for a moment, a tragic accident will occur. Balconies and windows are dangerous for children. There are young children who do not understand the difference, so it is most important to devise ways to prevent children from going out on the balcony alone."

Please send us child danger information

NHK Osaka Broadcasting Station has a special site "Children's Danger" to inform you about precautions.



We are also looking for cool experiences in daily life with children.



Please submit your information using the submission form linked here.

I know?

Children's Danger