In recognition of National Childhood Injury Protection Week, Sept. 1 -7, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing is offering advice to parents on how to prevent their children from getting hot water burns.

According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, hot tap water accounts for nearly one-fourth of all scald burns among children and is associated with more deaths and hospitalizations than other hot liquid burns. The most common place for tap-water burns is in the bathroom, such as during bath time, and the burns tend to cover a larger portion of the body and be more severe than other scald burns.

"Adults often don't realize that water can feel warm or moderately hot to them but can often be too hot for children. It's important for parents to take precautions to avoid serious injury to their children," said Tab Hunter, president of Franchise Operations at Clockwork Home Services, franchisor of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. The franchise offers some informative tips to families in an effort to prevent childhood injuries:

Always test the temperature of the water before placing a child into the tub or sink. A good way to do this is place the inside of your wrist, which is more sensitive to temperature, into the stream. If it feels the slightest bit uncomfortable, adjust the water temperature.

It might not be a good idea to use a showerhead or hose attachment since water temperature from these devices varies more than that of the water already in the bathtub, thus the risk of accidental burns is more likely. However, anti-scald devices are also available for water faucets and showerheads.

Burns can be prevented by lowering the setting on your hot water heater to 120 °F or below. Make sure your water heater is set to an appropriate temperature.