Safety Advice
What follows is advice about safety for Sensory Impaired children, it’s by no means a comprehensive guide but we hope it’s a useful starting point for parents, carers, staff and for young people themselves. We welcome your comments and ideas for this page. If you require further specific advice please contact us.
Hearing Aid Battery Safety
Most modern hearing aids use button cell batteries and they usually have a zinc air chemical paste inside them. There are risks, especially for young children, if they swallow a battery. This obviously leads to one key piece of advice: please store the batteries well away from the reach of babies and young children. Most hearing aids can be fitted with a battery door lock, and this is usually offered as standard. Some hearing aids now come with rechargeable batteries… please take care with these too, as all hearing aids are choking risks. It is very important to keep a close eye on babies and young children at all times when they are wearing hearing aids or cochlear implant processors.
If your child or a child you are working with has swallowed a battery, or you suspect they have, please seek medical advice from your local Accident and Emergency Department as soon as possible.
There is further advice available from:
NHS National Patient Safety Alert re Hearing Aid Batteries
NDCS Page re Battery Safety
https://www.ndcs.org.uk/blog/safety-alert-on-hearing-aids-what-this-means-for-you/
Fire and Smoke Safety for Deaf Children and Young People
There are a range of alarms that can be used at home that support visual and vibrating alert when there is fire, smoke or carbon monoxide issues. To learn more go to this page from the NDCS:
Safety at home for Vision Impaired children
The RNIB have produced guidance for safety at home for younger VI children:
Staying safe online
The NDCS have worked together with Childnet to produce safety guidance for children and families about accessing information online. This is the page with all of their advice:
The RNIB have also published information about how Vision Impaired people can stay safe online:
https://www.rnib.org.uk/living-with-sight-loss/independent-living/staying-safe-online/