The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has issued a stark warning after uncovering a sharp 96 per cent rise in accidental poisonings since 2013, with new guidance highlighting how people living with dementia are among those at particular risk.
The charity’s guidelines help households protect vulnerable loved ones and include simple steps to prevent dangerous chemicals from being mistaken for everyday items. Many products in the home can be opened and swallowed in moments, especially when confusion, memory loss or impaired visual recognition makes hazardous substances look harmless.
These cognitive changes can turn ordinary domestic spaces into high risk environments, with the sharp rise in poisoning incidents tragic evidence that too many preventable emergencies are happening in homes across the UK, often without families realising how quickly a situation can escalate.
Rebecca Guy, Senior Policy Manager, said:
“Families with vulnerable relatives can often deal with genuinely frightening moments. Turning away for just a few seconds and realising someone has swallowed a cleaning product is sadly a reality that some of the public have experienced. These aren’t freak accidents. They are predictable, preventable events, and our new guidance is designed to help people act fast to make their homes safer.”
What you can do right now to lower the risk
Lock away cleaning and laundry products: high cupboards or secured storage only.
Keep medicines tightly controlled: use organisers, track doses and store out of sight.
Check packaging: ensure harmful products stay in their original containers.
Remove confusion triggers: keep look-alike bottles (e.g., bright drinks and cleaning fluids) apart.
Supervise more closely when unfamiliar items, visitors or new products are around.
Conduct weekly hazard sweeps of kitchens, bathrooms and utility areas.
Paul Edwards, Chief Nursing Officer at Dementia UK, said:
“Laundry and cleaning products are often easily accessible in our homes, and many have brightly coloured packaging which can cause confusion for people with dementia, who may mistake them for other edible items. One of the challenges of supporting someone with dementia is balancing the risk between an individuals’ autonomy against their safety.
“It is impossible to eliminate risk completely, but these guidelines offer simple steps people can take to reduce the chance of these accidents happening, and provide a helpful checklist for both professional care environments and in the home.”
Alzheimer’s Society Senior Knowledge Officer Simon Wheeler said:
“Staying safe is important for people with dementia who want to keep living at home for as long as possible, as well as for those who support them.
“As a person’s dementia progresses, they might have trouble telling the difference between something that’s safe to eat and something that isn’t.
“If you want to reduce the risk of accidents, make sure that you store your cleaning products like laundry detergents safely in a cupboard and out of sight. Don’t leave them out on a worktop or near any food or drinks, especially if they might be mistaken for sweets or drinks.
RoSPA’s latest advice underscores a growing national concern: without simple protective steps,
vulnerable people are at real and immediate risk inside their own homes.
