Preschool Children and the Cigarette Lighter

Abstract

Fire is the leading cause of death in the home for children under the age of five. Many of these fires are caused by the children themselves, and the common disposable butane lighter has emerged as a frequent source of ignition. The children involved are typically quite young, with three-fourths under age five. The work reported in this paper addressed human factors concerns in children operating cigarette lighters to start fires. It included a review of literature on child fire setting; an analysis of in-depth accident investigations; a survey of the child developmental literature to identify physical, cognitive, and behavioral factors related to lighter operation; the development of strategies for enhancing the child-resistance of lighters; and the development and pilot testing of a detailed formal evaluation protocol for assessing the child-resistance of lighters. The overall findings of the project indicate the significance of the fire safety problem involving cigarette lighters, and the susceptibility of the problem to human factors solutions. The general strategies identified for improving the product provide a starting point for creative, and cost effective, design approaches. The evaluation protocols developed provide an objective means for assessing child-resistance, and should prove useful for research, evaluation, and regulation.