Commission de sécurité des consommateurs

 

 

 

 

In April, July and August 2004, three newspaper articles drew attention to the frequency of accidents involving young children falling from windows. The problem is particularly acute in France during warm weather. The articles highlighted the poor response to this problem in France, in contrast to other countries such as the USA where regulatory measures and publicity campaigns have reduced the number of accidents significantly over the past twenty years.

 

The Consumer Safety Commission was alerted to the problem in the mid-1990s, but was not able at that time to issue an Opinion in response to the various Petitions that it had received. The Commission did, however, issue a Press Release warning of the danger (see Appendices 1 and 2). In view of the gravity of the problem, which could affect more than 100 children every year, the Commission decided at the plenary session of 21 October 2004 to investigate the question on its own motion.

 

 

In France, as in other countries, falls account for over half of all domestic accidents involving children[1] and constitute the second most common cause of accidental death in children after road accidents. The majority of accidentology databases distinguish between falls from a height and falls from a lower level without specifying the place or circumstances of the accident. In France, the statistical lists published by the InVS set the threshold between the two types of fall at one metre. However, in the case of victims aged under 12 months only, it is known that architectural components are associated with 16 % of the cases involving a fall from a height[2]. It is therefore difficult to estimate accurately the number of falls from windows that occur each year in France.

 

Some raw figures for falls from windows were obtained from a search of the literature and through the Commission’s membership of the European Child Safety Alliance[3]. While these figures give some indication of the scale of the problem, they cannot be used as the basis of comparisons or analysis in view of the wide variations in the data gathering methods used, and the time periods and geographical areas covered. 

 

   

Country	Year	Age group	Number of accidents	/per year
Canada	1994-1997	0-14 years	64	16
New York	1976	0-14 years	2174	217
New York	1979	0-14 years	804	80
Chicago (Illinois, USA)	2003	0-14 years	50	50
Dallas (Texas, USA)	1997-1999	0-14 years	108	36
Hamilton County (Ohio, USA)	1991-1997	0-14 years	86	12
Greece	1996-2002	0-14 years	551	79
Netherlands	1999-2003	0-14 years	910	130
United Kingdom	2000-2002	0-14 years	175	25
Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region, France	2004	0-14 years	14	14
Ile-de-France Region, France5	2001-2004	0-14 years	206	50

 

 
However, three of these studies do appear to be significant enough to be of use, as they include both quantitative (number, sex and age group) and qualitative (location and circumstances of the accidents) aspects of the phenomenon. They confirm the individual observations made elsewhere and reveal a number of common factors relating to the environment, the profile of the victims, the circumstances and the clinical consequences of accidents involving falls from windows. These three studies are:

-          A study carried out by the Dallas Injury Prevention Centre covering the period between 1994 and 1997. The aim of this study was to analyse accidents involving children falling from windows in two and three storey blocks of flats in the centre of Dallas, as these were a significant proportion of the workload of the emergency services (108 cases analysed).

 

-          Data gathered in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2002 and coded by the emergency services in the HASS/LASS database    as: ‘Accidents to children under sixteen years of age involving windows’ (175 cases analysed from the HASS/LASS[8] database).

 

-          Occasional observations made by the paediatric emergency services of the Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris between 2001 and 2004 (over 200 cases analysed during this period).

 

At the present time, accidents involving falls from windows appear to be a predominantly urban phenomenon. In the USA, the probability of such an accident occurring is four time greater in towns than in the country. While the many factors determining this imbalance are known, their relative importance has yet to be ascertained. The number of accidents recorded may be determined by the severity of the resulting injuries, likely to be worse in areas with many high-rise blocks of flats, and the probability of the accident resulting in emergency admission to hospital. The statistics may also be affected by the fact that children in towns are likely to spend a greater proportion of their time indoors, there may be a higher proportion of badly maintained properties in towns, and there is a greater concentration of populations at risk. In Dallas, 77 % of accidents occurred in blocks of flats and only 10 % in detached houses. In the Ile-de-France region, 52 % of accidents occurred in local authority housing, and were concentrated in the north-east of the region.

 

 

           

The frequency of accidents varies throughout the year. In Dallas, 71 % of the recorded falls occurred in spring and autumn. In the Ile-de-France region, the worst period was between May and October. The pattern appeared to be determined by the weather, with a peak in June and July when sunshine followed a period of bad weather.

 

Two distinct categories of fall were noted. The first involved children under six years of age and were, in the main, falls from windows. The second group consisted of accidents involving older children and were associated with a wider range of often deliberate behaviour (balancing games, imitation, dares, flight from danger and, more rarely, suicide[9]). These accidents were mainly falls from balconies, terraces and roofs.

The United Kingdom data showed that more than half the accidents (58 %) in the younger age group involved attempts at climbing, a quarter occurred during play and 16 % resulted from dangerous behaviour[10].  

 

In the Dallas data it is possible to make a distinction between accidents involving falls from windows (52 % of all cases) and those involving falls from balconies fitted with a safety barrier (45 % of all cases). In 76 % of the cases, the child fell out of a window where the window sill was less than 61 cm from the floor. However, in 65 % of cases, the child fell through the safety barrier rather than over it when the separation between the bars was greater than 13 cm. In the Ile-de-France region, 85 % of falls were from windows and 13 % were from balconies. Information relating to the dimensions of the windows and balconies is not available.

 

In the Ile-de-France region, 83% of the accidents involving children occurred in the presence of an adult or older child, but 64 % of them were alone in the room at the time of falling. Eighty percent of the falls from windows occurred between 11 am. and 8 pm. with peaks at meal times. This is consistent with domestic accidents in general, which often occur when the adults supervising the children are distracted by other domestic tasks.

 

In 75 % of the cases, the accident occurred at a window in the child’s bedroom. In France, 52 % of the windows were open at the time of the accident. The corresponding figure in the United Kingdom is 86 %. None of the studies specified whether or not the window was fitted with a device to restrict the opening. In France, in the absence of any applicable regulations, it may be assumed that such devices were not fitted and that almost half of the children were able to open the window without assistance despite their young age.

In all the studies taken together, over 60 % of the victims were under six (the average age was five and a half in the Ile-de-France region). A quarter of the accidents involved children in the 10 to16 age group, which may be explained by risk-taking behaviour, while 20 % were in the 6 to 9 age group, doubtless more susceptible to the safety advice offered by their parents. In common with all home and leisure accidents, boys in all age groups are twice as likely to be involved in accidents as girls.

 

This imbalance may be explained both by anthropometric data, and by the level of psychomotor and psychological maturity of the young children. In terms of motor development, a child is usually capable of crawling at six months, standing up by holding onto a parent or coffee table (45 cm) at twelve months, and of walking from thirteen months.  At fifteen months the child is capable of using a small piece of furniture or other object to climb up to a window opening. However, at these ages, the child does not have sufficient coordination or strength to recover from a loss of balance and the weight of the head is often sufficient to cause the child to over-balance and fall. Older children between two and four years of age can easily, and without fear, climb a ladder to a height of 1.5 metres. Once children have reached four years of age, they can get over a one metre high barrier purely by using the strength of their arms and legs, and without the need for any object to use as a step or a preliminary run up to the barrier. This was one of the conclusions in a test report by the Laboratoire National d’Essais (national testing laboratory, LNE) commissioned by the French Standards Authority (AFNOR) during preparation of specifications for swimming pool barriers[11]:

 

 

At the age of six, children have all the motor capabilities of an adult scaled to their size.[12]

 

Psychologically, young children have a natural desire to explore and test their environment. Incapable of assessing situations before acting, a child may be attracted by an object out of reach, may try to imitate the flying abilities of a superhero, or may become frightened by the absence of a parent. All these factors may lead children into a position of danger by climbing over a safety barrier or window sill[13]. Under the age of six, the effectiveness of parental supervision is further hampered by the fact that children may suddenly acquire a capability without warning. Furthermore, while children in this age group can understand a prohibition, and pass it on to younger children, they associate it with the specific object to which it was applied (e.g. the child’s bedroom window), but cannot generalise the concept to an entire class of objects (e.g. windows in general). The danger of falling from a window is even more difficult for children to understand as they have been told that windows are dangerous but they remain accessible to adults.

 

The second factor noted in the profile of the victims relates to their socio-cultural origin. In the Ile-de-France region, the accidents are concentrated in the families of manual workers and employees (55 % of all cases), families known to be in financial difficulty (48 %), families with a large number of children, or recent immigrants from Africa (56 %). Forty-two percent of the latter group were from sub-Saharan Africa.

  

This phenomenon is not present in the Dallas data, but other sources in the USA[14] indicate that Hispanic or African-American populations are most affected, with three times as many victims in the latter group. In France, cultural factors are more important, especially when families need to adapt to high-rise buildings or when often large families of children are left in the care of older siblings who may not themselves be aware of the dangers[15]. This factor may, however, be exacerbated by the poverty and poor housing conditions in which these families live.

 

In the studies considered, the average height of the fall was one storey in the United Kingdom, two or three storeys in Dallas and two and a half storeys in the Ile-de-France region. In general, falls from windows result in a higher proportion of hospital admissions than the average for home and leisure accidents, and are comparable with road traffic accidents in this respect. In the Netherlands, the Dutch Injury Surveillance System[16] recorded a hospital admission ratio of 58 % against 6 % for home and leisure accidents as a whole. In the USA, the corresponding figures are estimated at 28 % and 6 %. Accidents involving falls from windows are affected by a number of aggravating factors:

 

-          The victims are usually young and tend to overbalance as a result of the weight of the head. They fall head first resulting in severe brain injuries.

 

-          The impact velocity increases with the height of the fall. A fall from the second floor results in an impact velocity of 36 km/h, from the sixth floor, 50 km/h, and from the eighth, 80 km/h.

 

-          The softness of the ground surface (grass, sand, tarmac, gravel, etc.) and the presence of elements that may retard the fall (balcony edge, porch, shop blind, car roof, etc.) have little effect on the impact velocity and the extent of injuries to internal organs.

 

-          Some clinical consequences may not become apparent until several hours after the accident (e.g. abdominal and thoracic injuries), requiring a prolonged period of observation.

 

The clinical profile of children involved in falls from windows is determined by their age and the distribution of body mass. In France and the Netherlands, 80 % of the victims of falls from windows suffer head injuries, 50 % injuries to the chest, and 49 % fractures of the upper or lower limbs. These proportions vary with the age of the child. Head injuries are less common in older children, but this is compensated for by an increase in spinal and pelvic injuries. The majority of victims suffer multiple life-threatening injuries.

 

Overall, it is estimated that 13 to 15 % of all children falling from windows die as a result of their injuries (approximately one in six accidents involving falls from windows), and a further 15 % are affected for life by the consequences of a brain injury or broken bones. In France, this is equivalent to around fifteen deaths and a similar number of children disabled for life. It is difficult to measure the long term psychological damage resulting from the accident and the consequences of minor head injuries on the cognitive and behavioural functions of the child. These may become apparent to varying degrees in the form of permanent memory, language or spatial orientation problems. 

 

 

 

The number of windows installed in France is estimated at 200 million units. Ten million windows are sold each year, of which 64 % are replacement windows. The market has altered dramatically over the past twenty years. The use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has risen from 1 % of the market in 1982 to over two-thirds of the market today. This trend is accelerating, particularly in the case of tilt-and-turn windows and patio doors:

 

   

Windows are available with many different types of opening. In France and the Mediterranean countries, the most common is the dual inward opening type (59 %). Tilt-and-turn openings (20 %) are traditionally more popular in eastern France but are becoming more common throughout the country. 

  While 90 % of all production is made-to-measure, the manufacturing process is highly industrialised. There is no one dominant supplier and fitter, the market being shared among a large number of manufacturing companies and builders’ merchants supplying local tradesmen, SMEs and, less frequently, individual consumers.

 

 

Six of the documents relating to the safety of barriers and the protection of external openings in buildings and civil engineering works are relevant to the prevention of accidents involving children falling from windows, although this is not always their explicit objective[17]:

►      Article R.111-15 of the Planning and Housing Code (Article 14 of Decree 69-596 dated 14 June 1969)

This Article defines a number of requirements for the presence and dimensions of protective barriers on windows and balconies:

 

 

            While the scope of this document is wide ranging, it is limited in application and hence in its effectiveness:

 

-          The text appears in Chapter I of the Building and Housing Code: ‘Construction of buildings - Section II: Requirements applicable to dwellings’. However, these requirements only apply to new buildings constructed since 1955, the year in which the first regulations defining the minimum dimensions of safety barriers came into effect[18].

 

-          It applies only to dwellings, as can be seen from the title of Chapter I[19] and to windows located above the ground floor. This is despite the fact that ground floor windows can and do open onto considerable drops.

 

-          A strict interpretation of the requirements reveals at least four different levels of protection, which could result in confusion. These levels appear to be lower than the climbing abilities of young children (greater than one metre), as has been shown in recent work on the protection of private swimming pools (see  Section I.3).

 

 

-          These heights of the protective barrier are calculated with reference to the floor level and not between potential footholds.

 

-          The Article defines no requirement relating to the quality of the safety barrier (strength, maintenance, etc.).

►      Standards NF P 01-012 and NF P 01-013 dated July 1988

 

The standard NF P 01-012 dated July 1988: ‘Dimensions of safety barriers – Safety rules relating to the dimensions of safety barriers and banister rails’ (with the associated test procedures defined in standard NF P 01-013 ‘Tests for safety barriers – Methods and criteria’) is intended to assist the application of Article R111.15 of the Building and Housing Code.

 

The standard does not expressly exclude the prevention of falls from windows, but the limits of its scope are clearly stated in the introduction:

 

Although not compulsory, except in the case of public works contracts, this standard is usually applied by the industry. It does, however, pose a number of difficulties in interpretation:

 

-          The scope of application differs from that of Article R. 111.15. It  covers a wider range of issues, as it applies to dwellings, offices, shops, educational establishments, factories, agricultural buildings, buildings open to the public and their surroundings (Article 1.2).

 

-          The requirement for a protective barrier is determined not only by the height of the window sill and the position of the window in the building, but also by the height of the drop on the other side of the window, defined as greater than one metre (Article 1.4).

 

-          The standard defines a number of standing zones as being either ‘normal’ or ‘precarious’ depending on the configuration of the area. The type of zone determines the height of the protective barrier required (Articles 1.5.3.1 and 1.5.3.2)[20].

 

Some of the requirements, resulting from a free interpretation of Article R.111.15, may in certain cases result in a reduced level of protection or may even increase the risk of a young child falling from a window. Thus:

 

-          The standard extrapolates the requirements of Article R 111.15 of the Building and Housing Code to produce a range of minimum heights depending on the thickness of the safety barrier. This permits heights of less than 0.80 metres in the case of buildings other than dwellings (Article 2.2):

 

 

 

-          The standard defines specific rules for determining the minimum height of safety barriers incorporating a plinth on which a person could kneel (defined as being between 0.45 and 0.60 metres) without making any requirements as to the shape of such a plinth that would prevent it being used as a foothold for climbing the barrier (Article 2.2.3.1).

 

-          The standard specifies two different maximum distances between the bars of a safety barrier depending on whether the bars are vertical (maximum separation 11 cm) or horizontal and straight (11 cm or 18 cm if they are at least 0.45 metres above the normal floor level at which a person would stand) (Article 2.3.2).

-          The standard only covers the safety of decorative wrought iron barriers in terms of the risk of a child passing through the barrier or becoming trapped in it. It does this by defining minimum dimensions for a test gauge to be used to check the openings in the barrier (11cm x 25cm x 11cm)[21]. However, the standard does not consider the climbing risk inherent in this type of barrier, in which the openings can be used as footholds regardless of their size (Article 2.3.3).

 

 

 

 

 

In 1993, the Comité Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (building scientific and technical centre, CSTB) began work on a revision to the NF P 01-012 standard intended to clarify some of the requirements and to increase the level of protection against climbing risks. This work was never completed, partly due to the opposition of manufacturers to the new dimensional requirements on the basis that there were no reliable statistics for the number of accidents involving falls from windows, and partly due to an intention on the part of the government to redraft Article R. 111.15 of the Building and Housing Code. As the standard derived directly from this Article, the Construction Industry Standardisation Agency decided to wait until the new functional requirements for safety barriers were known before continuing with the revision. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport decided to postpone the redrafting of Article R.111.15 and the work to revise the NF P 011-012 standard was never restarted.

►     Standard NF P 98-405: ‘Road safety barriers’ dated April 1998

This standard does not apply to dwellings, but it does specify requirements for the design, manufacture and installation of safety barriers on bridges, roads, footbridges, retaining walls and similar constructions. The minimum barrier height depends on the construction and extends from 0.90 metres to 1.20 metres or more (Articles 5.1.2.1.1 and 5.1.2.1.2). In addition, paragraph 1 of Article 5.1.2.2 – Infill – defines specific dimensional requirements to protect young children from the risk of falling over or through a protective barrier. These requirements are different from those in the NF P 01-012 standard, but they do not protect against the risk of part of a child’s body becoming trapped nor do they prevent climbing over the barrier:

 

 

►     Circular dated 13 December 1982

This circular issued by the Ministry of Planning and Housing, relates to the conversion of other types of buildings into dwellings and the renovation of development of existing dwellings. It makes a number of recommendations to the construction industry in relation to the quality of the construction and the safety of individuals. In Chapter II paragraph 5, the circular specifies that:

 

 

Unlike Article R. 111.15 of the Building and Housing Code, this circular does not have the force of  a regulation. However, its scope is equally limited:

 

-          It applies to dwellings only.

 

-          It refers only to safety barriers and guard rails used to protect window openings and does not mention alternative forms of safety hardware.

 

-          In the case of a partial renovation, it permits the replacement of safety barriers with identical types regardless of the level of safety provided.

 

In addition, some requirements are capable of different interpretations:

 

-          The circular refers only to the ‘dimensional requirements’ of the NF P 01 012 standard. This may be taken as referring only to Part 2 of the standard ‘ Dimensional requirements for safety barriers’ and excluding any reference to standing zones, the calculation of the thickness of the barrier, or the requirements relating to strength and test methods specified in standard NFP 01-013.

 

-          The circular appears to offer a choice between the installation of a safety barrier or a guard rail for windows with a sill height of less than 0.90 metres above the floor, whereas Article R.111.15 of the Building and Housing Code requires a guard rail and a protective barrier to be fitted to windows of this type.

 

►     Decree 2002-120 dated 30 January 2002

 

This Decree defines the characteristics of ‘decent’ housing in application of Article 187 of the Law 2000-1208 dated 13 December 2000 relating to solidarity and urban renewal. It specifies a number of requirements relating to physical safety, health and comfort in rented dwellingsand places an obligation on landlords to maintain barriers intended to provide for the safety of individuals (Article 2):

 

There are three comments that may be made in relation to this document:

-          The Decree only applies to dwellings used as a main place of residence or dual-use workplace/dwellings used as a main place of residence, together with secondary premises associated with the main premises and leased from the same landlord. Holiday homes, holiday flats and hotels are not covered by this Decree. These premises are only covered by individual responsibility as defined in the Civil Code, and in situations where the owners wish to obtain certification under certain tourist approval labels.

 

-          The obligation on landlords is limited to the maintenance of existing barriers and does not require the installation of protective barriers on windows where none currently exist, nor the upgrading of existing barriers that do not meet current standards.

 

-          The ‘condition compatible with their intended use’ requirement does not make reference to any recognised standard that could be used to provide an objective measurement of the degree of protection afforded by the barrier in question. It follows that a guard rail that does not comply with the dimensional requirements of NF P 01-012, but that is intact and securely attached, may still comply with the Decree.

 

►      Standards relating to the design, manufacture and installation of windows and glazed doors

 

The quality of windows and glazed doors, and their installation, is covered by a number of standards relating to building products derived from the requirements of European Directive 89/106/EEC dated 21 December 1988.

 

More than 150 standards (including 137 French standards) relating to the design, manufacture and fitting out of windows are listed on the AFNOR website. These standards are intended to ensure that these products and their components[22] provide uniform levels of strength, quality of materials, weather proofing, sound proofing, energy efficiency and resistance to unauthorised entry for each class of materials used. A number of labels, marks and certifications issued by authorised organisations (NF, CSTBat, Acotherm, etc.) provide consumers with proof that the products comply with these standards. The requirements covering installation are covered by the Unified Technical Documents (building regulations) published by the CSTB (DTU36- 1, DTU37-1, DTU 37-1 A1 (NF P 24-203-1 A1), and DTU 37-2) and the CSTB Specification No. 3183 covering PVC windows and doors. Finally, a service level standard covering the installation of windows is currently in preparation.

 

The risk of falling from the window is only covered from the point of view of the strength of the product (strength of the glazing and frame, attachment to the structure of the building, etc.). None of the documents examined discussed the minimum specifications required in order to prevent the windows from being opened by young children, the category at the greatest risk.

 

Technical solutions are not sufficient in themselves to prevent the risk of falls from windows. The victims of this type of accident are too young to take responsibility for their own safety, or to remember warnings. The adults, both parents and carers, who have young children in their charge must remain particularly vigilant. They must anticipate dangerous behaviour and take a number of precautions when locating furnishings or fittings close to windows. A public information programme is needed. In those countries where there has been a long term awareness of the risks of falls from windows, the regulatory measures have always been accompanied by periodic safety campaigns specifically targeting this type of accident.

 

In France, the risk is well known and has been targeted by a number of safety campaigns. More than twenty such messages have been recorded, issued by both the public and private sectors. The messages are addressed to both parents and children using a range of different media including web sites, CDROMs, and brochures (see Appendix 5). The advice given is straightforward:

 

-          Never leave a child alone in a room with an open window.

 

-          Never leave objects attractive to a child on a balcony.

 

-          Do not place furniture or position radiators underneath windows.

 

-          Keep all objects that could be used by a child as a step well away from any window.

 

-          Check that all locks and fastenings are working effectively and that they do not allow the window to be opened by the wind or by the actions of a young child.

 

-          Wherever possible, fit safety devices to all windows.

 

These campaigns appear to have had little effect as the number of accidents involving falls from windows in the Ile-de-France region has remained more or less constant over the past twenty years. This may be explained by the following:

 

-          The nature of the risk. This is not easily appreciated by a child as it is not associated with the use of an intrinsically dangerous product or object (such as the heat of a flame or the sharp edge of a knife).

 

-          The absence of a strong seasonal message relating to the risk. This risk is most often covered as part of a general safety campaign targeting all home and leisure accidents.

 

-          The irrelevance of written material to the populations most affected by this type of accident (immigrant populations of African origin whose culture is predominantly oral and who often lack competence in the French language).

 

-          The lack of specific information on safety devices that have proven to be effective and are available on the market.

 

Other countries have deployed a range of measures over the past twenty years aimed at preventing the risk of falls from windows. These include a regulatory or legal duty to ensure all windows are safe, the adoption of building standards that are more strict than those in France (taking particular account of the climbing risk), and national information campaigns targeted at consumers.

 

►      Large cities in the US

 

In the USA, the city of New York has been a pioneer in preventing the risk of falls from windows. The Window Guard Safety Law came into force in 1976.

 

This law requires all owners of residential accommodation to install ‘best practice’ window guards on almost all windows, including those in first-floor bathrooms, those giving onto balconies and terraces, and landing windows in any building occupied by one or more children under the age of eleven[23]. Every year, on renewal of the lease, the landlord must send a form to each tenant so that the requirements for new window guards may be recorded.

Since 2000, only approved window guards complying with the ASTM F 2006-00 and ASTM F 2090-01a standards may be fitted. The technical specifications are strict:

-          The guards must not leave any space across the width of the window greater than 11.5 cm without protection and must be securely attached to the window frame using special screws.

-          The guard must be at least 38 cm high with the horizontal bars close enough together to prevent the passage of a sphere 12.5 cm in diameter.

 

-          The guards must be capable of withstanding a weight of 75 kg.

 

The ‘Window Falls Prevention Program’ (WFPP) was established to monitor the application of this law. A specific department within the city administration receives and investigates petitions from the public. A public health inspector visits the owner of the building in which a breach of the law has been reported. If the window guard is not brought up to standard within a specified period of time, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development will install or repair the guard and recover the cost from the owner, along with penalty charges and a fine. There is an annual awareness campaign targeting families and carers responsible for children (‘Kids can’t fly’), and this is now followed up by a number of private organisations offering safety devices[24].

 

The impact of these measures has been significant. In 1976, there were 217 cases of falls from windows in New-York. Two years later, this figure had been reduced by 35 %. After a further three years, the number of falls from windows had fallen to 80, a reduction of 63 % since 1976. The city authorities estimate the risk today has been reduced by 96 % overall, or 100 % in those flats where the required guards have been fitted.

 

During the 1990s, other large cities in the US cities facing the same problem adopted awareness campaigns and programmes to encourage the fitting of guards. They did not, however, go as far as to make this compulsory. In Chicago and Boston, these campaigns resulted in a reduction of 83 % in accidents involving falls from windows between 1993 and 1997.

 

►      Canada

 

In Canada, the fire escape regulations make the fitting of window guards impossible. However, Articles 9.7.1.6 and 9.8.8 of the National Building Code (NBC) do require windows extending below 45 cm above floor level to be protected by either a safety barrier or a safety device capable of restricting the opening of the window to less than 10 cm, thereby preventing the passage of a child. These safety barriers must be at least 90 cm in height and capable of withstanding a pressure of 75 kg. Some provinces or cities have imposed their own standards that are more stringent than those of the NBC. These allow for the fitting of approved window guards in certain circumstances.

 

‘Safekids Canada’, the national programme for the prevention of accidents to children, issues regular press releases on the dangers of falls from windows. It warns parents in particular of the dangers of fly screens which obscure windows without having the necessary strength to prevent a child falling through the screen.

 

►     The regulatory framework in Europe

 

The majority of European building regulations and housing codes contain measures to provide for the safety of windows. The requirements vary slightly between countries in terms of the minimum heights for safety barriers (from 0.85 to 1.10 metres) and the safety features to be provided on each storey (on every window extending below 1.80 metres above ground level in Sweden). The most stringent regulations cover the following points:

 

-          Mechanisms for restricting the opening of windows are designated as windows safety devices. They are compulsory on all windows in northern Europe. In other countries they are required in addition to safety barriers under certain conditions.

 

-          The risk of climbing on architectural features (without the use of a separate object as a step) is taken into account to varying degrees: While it is covered by an absolute requirement in Italy, in other countries it only applies to the lower portion of the safety barrier up to a limit of between 60 cm (Switzerland) and 80 cm (Sweden).

 

-          Dimensional requirements are specified explicitly in most cases: 

 

 .Protection is compulsory if the drop outside the window is greater than one metre. 
 . The minimum height of a safety barrier is set at 1.10 metres (for windows above the first floor in Sweden). 
.  The maximum separation between vertical elements, and between the safety barrier and the edge of the opening, is defined by reference to a spherical gauge of diameter less than 10 cm.

 

 

Given the current situation, it would appear that accidents involving children falling from windows may be prevented by adopting the following five strategies:

The lack of knowledge in respect of the number, locations and, above all, the circumstances surrounding accidental falls from windows by children is a major factor impeding awareness of the problem and the implementation of measures to prevent the risk.

 

An accurate record of the circumstances and types of buildings involved would enable the public authorities and the industry to prioritise the actions to be taken. In this regard, the Commission considers that the establishment by the InVS[25] of an enquiry into accidental falls from windows in the Ile-de-France and Nord-Pas-de-Calais regions in 2005 is a positive step. This enquiry is based on three questionnaires covering clinical, socio-economic and factual aspects. Such an enquiry should be extended to cover the entire country and should analyse precisely the level of protection at the premises concerned (height of safety barrier, type of window fastening, presence of furniture and architectural features close to the window, etc.) for each accident.

 

The current legislative and regulatory framework applicable to the construction and renovation of buildings appears to be insufficient to prevent the risk of young children falling from windows. The principle of fitting effective safety devices to all windows and glazed doors should be imposed by law.

 

The French and European standards relating to windows and glazed doors ignore the risk of falling from a window. The European Commission should require the European Standards Commission (CEN) to prepare a standard to fill this gap as part of the Building Products Directive.

 

In addition to new regulations, the standards NF P 01-012, NFP 01-013 and NF P 98-405 should be revised and the inconsistencies between them removed.

 

 

Manufacturers of windows and window components, the construction industry and specifiers of buildings can each make an immediate contribution to reducing the number of accidents involving falls from windows by including provisions aimed at preventing this risk in specifications and in the design, manufacture and installation of the products and the buildings in which they are used.

            Despite the number of accidents recorded each year, there has never been a safety campaign in France targeted specifically at the risk of falling from windows. This is in contrast to the USA and Canada, where such campaigns have been proven to be effective. It would appear desirable for such a campaign to be established and relaunched each year as the warmer weather approaches. The campaign should use both traditional methods and new communications channels better suited to the most vulnerable non French speaking foreign families, with the greatest possible involvement of local participants.

 

 

Whereas children under six years of age are more vulnerable to the risk of falling from a window due to their level of physical and psychological development.

 

Whereas the number of serious accidents occurring each year in France is consistently high and is estimated by the Commission at around one hundred per year.

 

Whereas there is an absence of accurate data relating to the circumstances surrounding these accidents.

 

Whereas the current legislative and regulatory framework applicable to the construction, renovation and leasing of dwellings is insufficient for the effective prevention of the risk of young children falling from windows.

 

Whereas there are currently no European standards relating to the safety of windows and glazed doors, their components, or safety devices intended to prevent the risk of falling from windows.

 

Whereas immediate measure taken by the building industry and specifiers could significantly reduce the risk of falling from windows in new and existing buildings.

 

Whereas there is a need to launch safety campaigns aimed at preventing dangerous behaviour in addition to the implementation of regulatory and technical measures by the public authorities and the industry.

 

Having heard evidence from the following:

 

-          Doctor M., representing the NECKER Children’s Hospital

-          Mr. D. and Mr. S., representing the Union nationale de l’industrie de la quincaillerie (national union of the architectural fittings industry, UNIQ).

 

 

The Commission makes the following recommendations:

 

 ►     To public authorities:

 

-          Authorities should establish an enquiry extending over several years and throughout the country into the locations and circumstances surrounding accidents involving falls from windows.

 

-          In the case of new buildings, authorities should implement legislative or regulatory measures to establish the principle that all windows and glazed doors in all buildings likely to be occupied by children should be fitted with devices to protect against the risk of falling from windows.

 

-          In the case of existing subsidised local authority dwellings and buildings intended for collective occupation by young children, authorities should establish a regulatory requirement for the installation of approved devices limiting the extent of window opening in all parts of the building including public areas.

 

-          In the case of other existing dwellings, authorities should encourage the installation of approved safety devices to prevent the risk of falling on all windows and glazed doors by means of appropriate fiscal measures.

 

-          Authorities should adopt legislation rendering null and void any restrictive joint ownership covenant or clause in a lease that prevents the occupants from fitting their own safety devices to windows and glazed doors with the aim of preventing the risk of young children falling from windows.

 

-          Authorities should delete from all planning rules any requirement prohibiting the fitting of safety devices to prevent the risk of falling from windows, especially in cases involving the total or partial renovation of the façade of a building.

 

  ►   To standardisation authorities

On the basis of the new regulatory framework:

 

-          Authorities should revise and remove inconsistencies from the standards NF P01-012, NF P 01-013 and NF P 98-405 relating to the safety of safety barriers and road safety barriers. This revision could be based on standard NF P 90-306 dated May 2004: ‘Protective devices for unenclosed private excavated swimming pools intended for individual or collective use  - Protective barriers and means of access to the pool’.

 

-          Authorities should establish European standards specifying technical specifications for the manufacture and installation of windows, glazed doors, their components, and safety devices intended to prevent the risk of falling from windows.

 

  ►    To the industry and specifiers

 

-          Architects and designers should design facades and second-fit features with the aim of minimising the risk of accidents involving falls from windows (e.g.  removal or alternative positioning of radiators[26], work surfaces, shelves, plinths, and pipework that may be used as a step, and specifying safe windows opening devices in the construction, renovation and conversion of buildings likely to be occupied by children.

 

-          The construction industry should develop and offer their customers fittings, windows and glazed doors incorporating safety features aimed at preventing the risk of accidents involving falls from windows, ensuring that the performance of these features is maintained from manufacture through to the installation of the finished products.

 

-          Manufacturers of safety barriers should design barriers suitable for use with windows and for the protection of children up to six years of age.

 

 ►    To public and private organisations for the prevention of home and leisure accidents

-          Organisations should establish an annual campaign aimed at preventing the risk of falls from windows using both traditional methods and new communication channels better suited to the most vulnerable foreign families, making full use of local participants and the social workers, health workers and volunteers working with these populations.

 

-          In this campaign, organisations should stress the most frequent causes of accidents: Children left unsupervised or under the supervision of another child, the presence of furniture or any other object capable of being used as a step close to a window, and the use of unsuitable safety devices.

 

 

 

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