The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) comments: "Most of these accidents are preventable through increased awareness, improvements in the home environment and greater product safety." As a retailer you play a vital role in educating the consumer, by taking the time to address your customer's safety concerns with information, advice and ultimately, products that help guard against any accidents happening.

The essentials

From fitting blank covers into empty sockets, to using safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs and covering sharp edges of furniture with protectors - your customers will require products that facilitate only the highest level of safety. The ROSPA suggests that fireguards be fitted to any open fireplace and large expanses of windows or glass have brightly coloured stickers applied to warn of potential danger. The organisation also suggests that parents use a securely fitted safety harness in a pram, pushchair or high chair; that safety gates comply with BS EN 1930: 2000 and smoke alarms BS EN 14604 2005, regularly checked. For full safety advice please visit the website at www.rospa.com.

From room and bath thermometers to heat reactive feeding equipment and first aid kits placed near the counter as ‘add on' sales, there are many products out there designed to ease concerns about safety. As a retailer, a full understanding of the range of safety products required for the home will help you to empower parents to make positive, potentially life saving changes. While no safety product is ever a substitute for adequate parental supervision and though we have covered only a small but vital selection of products here, there are so many more you could source for your shelves in addition to those that help promote safety outside of the home.

The Baby Products Association

The BPA states: "Recent research has shown that the nursery products market is still in growth and has also identified safety as the uppermost consideration in parents' minds when purchasing items for their baby." Established in 1945, the Baby Products Association was set up to promote the baby and nursery products sector in the UK and Europe. Today it plays an active role in the development of product standards and provides an umbrella of support and specialist services to its membership. A reliable source of information for product safety and advice, the Association insists that parents ask themselves a range of questions before purchasing any product for baby, namely:

WILL MY BABY BE SAFE USING THIS PRODUCT?

HAS IT BEEN TESTED TO THE RELEVANT BRITISH, EUROPEAN OR INTERNATIONAL SAFETY STANDARDS?

DOES IT MEET THE REQUIRED EUROPEAN LEGISLATION?

As a retailer, it is vital that you can answer all of these questions before closing the sale.

Your customers will be relying on you to sell only  those products that are manufactured to the highest safety standards and to advise of their limitations in guarding against accidents.