The Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office has developed passports for objects potentially dangerous to children

Previously, it was believed that child injuries from external causes (water, fire, ground collapse, falls from height, carbon monoxide poisoning, food suffocation, road traffic accidents) were primarily a parental problem, stemming from an inability to explain safe behavior in various situations or simply a matter of unfortunate circumstances. However, specialists gradually came to the conclusion that the safety of minors is a concern not only for the family but also for society.

The state is obliged to create all conditions to ensure their safety, rather than attributing tragedies solely to the vagaries of fate.

— Authorities, police, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the prosecutor's office, educational and healthcare institutions, and enterprises that own hazardous facilities are all focused on preventive work in this area, — stated Anton Volkov, Senior Assistant Prosecutor of the Region for Supervision of Legislation Enforcement Regarding Minors and Youth. — Each preventive entity, within its competence, must establish order and ensure that all necessary measures are taken.

Annually, 20-30 children die from external causes in the region. As of early August 2017, 19 children had already died, including two suicides and four drownings. Among the most high-profile recent incidents were a child buried in a quarry and another who died from an accidental gunshot wound.

— Prosecutors have two functions in protecting children's rights: supervision and coordination of the activities of interested services, — said Anton Viktorovich. — We not only check how each of them fulfills its duties but also ensure that interagency cooperation, which sometimes falters, is established.

For example, in 2015, two boys were buried by earth in the Gluboksky district. This happened in a sand quarry allocated for the economic needs of one of the enterprises. During the inspection, we found that there is no regulatory framework governing safety issues when working in such places. And there are hundreds of them in the region. At a joint meeting of the regional executive committee and the prosecutor's office, we proposed to carry out comprehensive preventive measures to prevent accidents. As a result, so-called passports for objects potentially dangerous to children were developed.

The local authorities were tasked with creating a unified list of such sites located in or near settlements. Before the start of the season, special commissions are sent there to check if they are safe and if they have an owner. Measures are constantly being taken to eliminate violations of safety requirements, new dangerous objects are identified, and those that have been brought into order are excluded from the list.

Thus, two years ago in the Senno district, three children drowned in a fire pond located in the village. The law enforcement officers managed to establish its owner only from the words of the rural council employees; documents confirming this were missing.

Also, to prevent childhood injuries from external causes, it is important to know what is happening in families and how parents are fulfilling their duties.

— Tragedy can be avoided if a child is timely removed from a dysfunctional family, where the father and mother do not pay attention to children, leaving them to themselves, — said Anton Volkov.

— The work of the services controlling this area must be effective. But statistics show that in most cases, misfortunes occur in normal families when adults were nearby: falls from balconies and windows, drowning in water bodies. Therefore, the main task of police officers, educators, and rescuers is to communicate with children and parents, to talk about the consequences of rash actions and inattention.

Also, in my opinion, the approach to conducting life safety lessons should be changed, making them more practical so that schoolchildren practice skills of action in critical situations to the point of automation. It is important not only to talk about dangers but also to show what to do. The Ministry of Emergency Situations is working successfully in this direction.

Despite the measures taken by the state, the first line of defense in ensuring children's safety is the responsibility of parents. They must set an example of how to behave in order not to get into trouble.

Eduard Karolevich, "Vitebskiye vesti". Photo from open sources.