Deadline approaching for laws to stop kids falling from windows
THE deadline for new window-lock legislation is just three weeks away, but will tragically be too late for a child who fell three storeys from a window in Bankstown last week.
The Express
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THE deadline for new window-lock legislation is just three weeks away, but will tragically be too late for a child who fell three storeys from a window in Bankstown last week.
The seven-year-old was playing near an open window at a block of apartments on the busy Chapel St when he slipped and plunged to the brick footpath below.
He remains in the Sydney Children’s Hospital at Randwick in a serious but stable condition.
Accidents like these will hopefully become fewer by March 13 — the cut-off date for all strata buildings in NSW to be fitted with devices that prevent windows opening more than 12.5cm.
The legislation was first passed in 2015 after a push by The Children’s Hospital at Westmead staff who were tired of seeing the steady stream of children landing in emergency departments.
“We were seeing 10-12 children each year who had fallen from windows at this hospital alone,” Westmead’s trauma surgeon Dr Soundappan Soundappan said.
“We felt it was important because it’s awful seeing kids getting serious injuries from what is totally preventable.”
So far, the hospital is yet to see a decrease in admissions for window accidents but Dr Soundappan said he hoped after March 13 the numbers would drop.
In the last three months window safety compliance companies, such as ASQB Window Safety, have been swamped with requests to install safety locks.
But company director Anthony Shakar said he fears that come March 13, many buildings still won’t be compliant.
“We don’t believe that all strata buildings will be brought up to standards by then,” he said.
“If an accident does occur, the fine isn’t the major issue, it’s that the responsibility will come back to the owner.”
Mr Shakar also said because the locks can be disengaged by occupants, education is also needed.
Canterbury local Feroza Yasmin has been doing a lot of work raising awareness about window safety after she was approached by the government-led Kids Don’t Fly campaign.
As part of the campaign, Ms Feroza works with the Bangladeshi community handing out educational pamphlets highlighting the risk of falls, but said it was a significant issue for everyone, not just her culture.
Installing window safety devices is a requirement under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.
A spokesman for NSW Fair Trading said a fine of $550 will apply to non-compliant owners or to lot owners who obstruct an owners’ corporation in the installation of the window safety devices.
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