Window safety

Advice from the National Safety Council to help prevent children falling from windows:

• Keep windows closed and locked when children are around. For ventilation, open windows out of children's reach, perhaps only the upper pane.

• Keep children from playing by windows. Keep furniture -- or anything children can climb -- away from windows.

• If you install window guards or bars, be sure they have release mechanisms that will open easily in a fire emergency.

• To lessen a fall's impact, place shrubs and wood chips or grass beneath windows.