How To Avoid Danger On The Campsite

Health and safety gets a bad reputation but when it comes to camping it’s just plain common sense.

Here’s our 16-step guide to avoiding danger on the campsite.

1 Don’t use naked flames, including candles, in or near your tent.

2 Keep matches and lighters out of the reach of children.

3 Smoking in a tent is a fire risk as well as anti-social.

4 Gas cylinders and flammable liquids should be stored outside the tent.

5 Keep a bucket of water and a fire blanket handy.

6 Know where the fire points are and where fire-fighting equipment is stored onsite

7 Don’t use cooking appliances anywhere near the walls and roof of your tent or where they can be bumped into and knocked over.

8 Check that your barbecue is in good working order and is used on level ground.

9  Never spray lighting fuel on warm coals to revive the barbecue.

16 Stick to the speed limits when driving on site and make sure children are alert for cars and bikes on the site roads.

10 Store sharp knives away from the prying hands of youngsters.

12 Wear flip-flops or Crocs in the shower block, where wet floors can be a slip hazard and they cut out the risk of picking up such horrors as athlete’s foot or a verruca

13 If using electric hook-up, make sure your plug, cable and sockets are in good order.

14 Be careful of trip hazards coming in and out of the tent as well as around guylines.

15 Don’t push pegs in with your feet – they can pierce through the sole of your shoes and cause a nasty injury.

16 Never take a barbecue into your tent to use as a heater – it’s a killer. See below

CARBON MONOXIDE SAFETY

NEVER take a smouldering barbecue into a tent. Even a cooling barbeque gives off enough poisonous CO to be fatal

NEVER use a fuel-burning device to heat your tent. Gas heaters should only be used outdoors - if you think you’ll need to heat your tent, get an electric hook-up 

DON’T cook inside your tent, unless there is plenty of ventilation.

DON’T rely on a CO detector to keep you safe in a tent

BE AWARE of the symptoms of CO poisoning. Headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, nausea and vomiting