The Big Picture
Older adults and children face a high risk of burns. Hot food, hot liquids, cooking, bathing, smoking, electrical hazards, and other heat sources can all create danger.
Children often experience burns from hot liquids. Older adults may face burn risks while cooking, bathing, using heating pads, or smoking.
Many burn-prevention rules focus on keeping hot items away from people at risk, checking temperatures carefully, and reducing hazards before an injury happens.
Look for Nova Scotia CCA Notes throughout this page for current provincial guidance.
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Start Here If You’re Overwhelmed
Focus on these core ideas:
- Children and older adults are both at high risk for burns.
- Hot liquids such as coffee and tap water often cause burns in children.
- Always check bathwater temperature before an adult client bathes, even when an electronic temperature sensor is present.
- Keep hot food, hot liquids, appliance cords, and other heat hazards away from children.
- Never allow a client to smoke in bed.
- Cooking safety includes keeping pot handles toward the back of the stove and using back burners whenever possible when children are nearby.
Jump to:
Course Notes: Key Ideas You Need to Know
Why Older Adults Are at Risk for Burns
Many burns involving older adults happen in the kitchen. Loose sleeves can hang over a burner and catch fire while a person cooks.
Other burn risks include:
- Bathwater that is too hot
- Heating pads that are too hot
- Careless smoking
- Cigarette butts left unattended in ashtrays
Loose clothing around a stove needs special attention because fabric can come into contact with a burner.
Why Children Are at Risk for Burns
Accidental burns are common in children and can cause significant illness or death. Children and older adults are both at high risk.
Accidents are the leading cause of death in children in Canada.
The degree of a burn depends on how much tissue damage has occurred. The information here does not describe the different burn degrees.
Scalding Injuries
Scalding injuries from hot liquids such as coffee or tap water often cause childhood burns.
A child might also move into the path of an adult carrying something hot. The adult could trip and spill the hot liquid onto the child.
Clothing and Cooking Safety
Clients should understand the danger of wearing loose-fitting sleeves while cooking.
When children are nearby:
- Point pot handles toward the back of the stove.
- Use back burners instead of front burners whenever possible.
- Turn off the stove and burners when they are not being used.
- Do not allow very young children to help cook on the stove.
- Do not let children play near hot stoves, space heaters, fireplaces, or other heat sources.
Keep Hot Food and Drinks Out of Reach
Do not drink or carry hot liquids near infants or children.
Before carrying something hot, make sure children are not in your path. This includes:
- Hot drinks
- Clothes irons
- Dishes from the oven
Keep hot foods and liquids away from the edges of counters and tables where children can reach them.
Avoid tablecloths and placemats that a child or disoriented client could pull down.
Helping Clients With Hot Food and Drinks
Assist clients with eating and drinking when they need help. Spilled hot foods and liquids can cause burns ranging from minor to severe.
Before feeding a client who cannot feed themselves:
- Dip a clean spoon into the food.
- Touch the spoon to the inner part of your lower arm to check the temperature.
- Place that spoon in the used cutlery container.
- Use a different clean spoon to feed the client.
Do not reuse the spoon that touched your arm for feeding.
Baby Bottles and Baby Food
Do not heat a baby bottle or baby food in a microwave oven.
Before feeding a baby:
- Shake the bottle or stir the food.
- Test the temperature.
Temperature testing helps identify food or liquid that is too hot before feeding begins.
Bathing and Water Temperature
Always test the temperature of water in a tub, shower, or basin before bathing an adult client or helping the client bathe.
Check the water even when the tub has an electronic temperature sensor. The sensor might not work properly.
Use either:
- A water thermometer
- Your wrist or elbow
If the client is able, ask the client to check the water temperature as well.
For a tub or basin:
- Check for hotter areas in the water.
- Mix the water well by moving your hand back and forth.
- Position the child or client facing away from the faucets.
- Do not let the child or client touch faucet handles.
Smoking Safety
In facilities, clients should smoke only in designated smoking areas, if smoking is permitted at all.
Most facilities no longer allow smoking on their premises. Clients who smoke must stay a designated distance from facility doors.
Clients who smoke and cannot protect themselves need supervision.
Some facilities require some or all clients who smoke to wear a nonflammable smoking jacket. This helps protect against burns from a dropped cigarette.
Never allow a client to smoke in bed. A client could fall asleep and drop the cigarette onto clothing or bed sheets, starting a fire.
Nova Scotia CCA Note
Sorrentino’s Canadian Textbook for the Support Worker, 5th Edition gives the general burn-prevention steps above. In Nova Scotia, licensed nursing homes and residential care facilities must have and follow their own smoking policies and procedures. The provincial requirements also require a water-temperature monitoring policy that keeps temperatures in line with the appropriate Canadian Standards Association standards. (novascotia.ca)
This means the specific smoking arrangements and water-temperature procedures used in a Nova Scotia long-term care facility come from the facility’s required policies. The practical burn-prevention steps in Sorrentino still remain important study material. (novascotia.ca)
Why this matters in Nova Scotia: For facility-based care, remember the general burn-safety principles and recognize that current Nova Scotia long-term care requirements also rely on facility policies for smoking and water-temperature monitoring.
Official source: Long-Term Care Program Requirements: Nursing Homes & Residential Care Facilities
Last checked: September 13, 2026
Heat and Cold Safety
Follow safety guidelines when applying heat or cold.
Heating pads that are too hot can cause burns, especially for older adults.
Electrical Burn Prevention
Electrical hazards can cause serious burns.
Never leave a live extension cord lying around. A live extension cord has one end plugged in while the other end remains free.
A child could place the free end in their mouth and suffer severe burns to the mouth.
Also:
- Put safety plugs in unused electrical outlets.
- Keep appliance cords out of children’s reach.
- Do not let cords from irons, coffee pots, toasters, or other appliances hang down where a child could pull them.
Exam Clue Words
- Always: Water temperature must be checked before an adult client bathes or receives help bathing, even when an electronic temperature sensor is present.
- Do not: Clients must not smoke in bed, and hot liquids should not be carried near infants or children.
- Never: A live extension cord must never be left with one end plugged in and the other end free.
- Avoid: Tablecloths and placemats should be avoided when a child or disoriented client could pull them down.
Fast Review
Burn-prevention questions often focus on where the heat or electrical hazard is and what action keeps the person away from it.
- Children and older adults are both at high risk for burns.
- Loose sleeves can catch fire while a person cooks.
- Hot bathwater and overheated heating pads can burn older adults.
- Hot liquids such as coffee and tap water often cause childhood scalding injuries.
- Keep hot foods and drinks away from counter and table edges.
- Always check bathwater temperature, even when an electronic temperature sensor is present.
- Never allow a client to smoke in bed.
- Test food temperature before feeding a client who cannot feed themselves, then use a fresh spoon for feeding.
- Never leave a live extension cord with one end plugged in and the other end free.
- Point pot handles toward the back of the stove and use back burners whenever possible when children are nearby.
- Keep appliance cords out of children’s reach.
- Keep children away from stoves, space heaters, fireplaces, and other heat sources.
Final Pep Talk
There are many burn-prevention rules here, so focus first on the actions connected to words such as always, never, and do not. Then review the hazards by area, cooking, bathing, eating, smoking, and electricity, until the safety choices feel easier to recognize.