Call to redesign hair-straighteners to prevent burns among children

A study published in Archives of Diseases in Childhood found that hair-straighteners are the cause of nearly one in 20 cases where children needed hospital treatment for burns.

The study authors have called for designers and manufacturers to look at ways of designing the straighteners to be less dangerous. Current styling tongs can be heated to around 180ºC and remain hot for up to eight minutes after being turned off.

The paper’s authors say, ’While these appliances must be kept out of the reach of children, there is the potential to explore modification to product design to ensure toddler safety.’

The research was led by Professor Alison Kemp from Cardiff University and studied 1215 children aged under the age of 16 who were taken to hospital with burn injuries.

It found that 4.7 per cent of the children had burned themselves on hair-straighteners.