Child Safety Week is this week, June 5 to 11, and south London's councils are helping promote the event to keep your kids accident-free.

The programme is the Child Accident Prevention Trust’s flagship community education campaign and Richmond Council is the latest to support it.

The council is encouraging residents to learn more about the role they can play to keep children safe in the community.

Child Safety Week aims to raise awareness of the number of accidents that seriously injure or kill children and how to prevent them.

Deborah Lightfoot, of Richmond Council, said: “We all have a part to play in sharing the responsibility for preventing accidents among children, and we know that nothing is more powerful than the voice of experience.

“Child Safety Week is an opportunity for us all to think about the impact we can have on keeping children safe in the home, at school, on the roads and anywhere else in our community.

“No matter how big or small your involvement with children is, you have a part to play.

“I would encourage all adults, children and young people to make this week count and take some time to find out how a few small changes can make a big difference to improving child safety in Richmond upon Thames.”

To help families and communities keep children safe, the Child Accident Prevention Trust have published a list of practical, simple pieces of advice to prevent serious accident.

Burns: Young children don’t have a reflex to pull away from something that is burning them, it’s something we learn.

Push kettles to the back of the worktop and try to use the back rings on the hob. Better still, keep children out of the kitchen when you’re cooking if you can.

Fire: Stub your cigarette out properly and avoid smoking if you’re really tired or in bed. You may fall asleep with it in your hand.

Drowning: Keep children off inflatables when an orange windsock is flying at the beach. A wind blowing off the land can make the sea look flat, calm and safe but it can quickly sweep inflatables out to sea

Road Safety: The number of children injured as pedestrians peaks at 12 when many children start travelling to and from school on their own.

If hit by a car travelling at 40mph, 80 out of 100 child pedestrians will die. If hit by a car travelling at 20mph, 95 out of 100 child pedestrians will survive.

Falls: One of the worst ways for small babies to be injured on the stairs is when they are being carried by a parent who slips or trips.

Keep a hand free to hold on when carrying your baby up or down the stairs.

Poisoning: Liquitabs make laundry easy. But the bright colours and squeezable texture make them attractive to babies and small children.

The concentrated detergent is harmful if swallowed. Look out for products with bittering agents such as Bitrex when you’re shopping. They help prevent children swallowing products by making them taste really nasty.

Choking: It can take only 20 seconds for a toddler to die from strangulation if they get tangled in a blind cord. Fit a cleat hook to tie blind cords and chains back.