Nappy bucket death prompts inquiries

Press, 2 June 1984, Page 8

Nappy bucket death prompts inquiries

PA Invercargill The death of a child in a nappy bucket has prompted inquiries about their safety. The Coroner, Mr T. L. Savage, in an inquest yesterday, found that Kris Lindsay John Munro, aged one, of Invercargill, drowned in a plastic bucket on December 18. The Coroner said that both parents expressed concern about aspects of the bucket which they believed were dangerous. “It was a large bucket which the child could easily fall into, and its lid did not fit properly,” he said.

He noted that a similar death occurred last year in Upper Hutt, although it involved a different make of bucket. Constable David Stanley Raynes said at the inquest that the bucket in which Kris Munro drowned was made in Australia. The brand name was not identified at the inquest, but he said it was advertised as a general purpose bucket. The buckets, received by Invercargill firms in dozen packs and distributed from Dunedin, were stacked inside each other, and the lids arrived buckled.

“This has been brought to the attention of the distributors,” he said. The Coroner said evidence showed the child fell forward into the bucket and drowned. Although sold for general purposes, such vessels could be expected to be used as nappy buckekts with other household uses. “There was a problem with fitting of lids, which has been drawn to the attention of the distributors, and I hope that some good can come out of this tragic accident by having the lid fitting remedied.” Other household buckets and liquid containers were not supplied with lids, and in many cases supplied lids were not used, he said. The accident was “a reminder of the extreme care that is needed at all times when there are receptacles about the home which contain liquid in places where young children could get access to them.”