It is without a doubt that ensuring that your family is safe at home is safe should always be a top priority. While there are always some safety hazards that lurk around every home out there, most of these problems can easily be addressed.
In order to make sure that you are doing everything you can on your end in order to achieve maximum safety at home, in this article, we have prepared 6 handy tips on common safety hazards at home that are going to help you keep yourself and your loved ones out of harm’s way.
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Don’t overlook the staircase maintenance
Did you know that injuries that happened as a result of a fall are one of the most common household hazards? Statistics say that one out of five falls in older adults results in a broken bone or a head injury. Christopher Carling, an attorney on personal injury cases explained that while in case such an injury occurs at a workplace, a hotel, or a similar establishment, as it is the legal duty to keep the premises free of hazards – you can get compensated, but this is not the case if you are responsible for the hazard in your home. That being said, make sure not to overlook staircase maintenance!
So, what should you do in order to stabilize your staircases? You need to make sure that all of the handrails are solid, that the flooring is securely affixed, and that the lighting is adequate. Of course, if there are young children around, safety gates should be installed as well.
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Buy fire extinguishers!
While most of the households have fire alarms a lot of them tend to overlook the fact that while they are greatly efficient at getting firefighters to your home – sometimes, this just isn’t enough. In fact, there are instances where people forget to change the batteries on the detector, and even though it is a one-time occurrence, if a fire breaks out you are going to be extremely glad that you have a fire extinguisher at hand.
In other cases, you might have to wait for firefighters to arrive, and even if it’s just for a couple of minutes – having a fire extinguisher at bay may be vital in extreme cases.
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HVAC system maintenance
Many homes rely on their air conditioning units to keep them colder during the summers and warmer during the winters, but these systems, if not maintained properly, can be a big safety hazard for more than just one reason. That being said, making sure that you change your filters regularly is going to ensure that no mold growth occurs, as well as that there are no CO leaks – but we are going to talk about that in more detail in a second.
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CO detector is a must
Carbon monoxide leaks can occur for many different reasons – most of them happen due to poor maintenance of heating systems, HVACs, and similar. Low exposures to CO can cause various different symptoms such as headaches and dizziness, but higher levels can even lead to impaired vision even death.
Since CO is virtually impossible to detect as it has no smell or color, installing a CO detector is imperative. It will keep you and your family safe, so, make sure to install one!
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Make sure your trash cans are closed
While it may sound weird, there is a good reason why you should make sure that your trash cans are kept locked. The thing is, if you have small children and pets in your household, keeping your garbage locked is going to ensure that all of them are kept safe from finding any sharp edges such as those from open food cans and lids. Also, this is going to ensure that no foul food or toxic chemicals are consumed accidentally. Keeping your trash cans is quite simple to achieve, and yet, it goes a long way!
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Latch the dishwasher
This one is pretty important if you have young kids around the house, and while it may seem strange to you – burns indeed do occur as a result of curious kids opening the dishwasher while the temperatures are extremely high inside. That being said, in order to keep any curious small hands away from the danger, you should make sure that your dishwasher is kept safe!
In the end, there are always going to be some aspects that you can’t control as accidents do happen out of the most unexpected situations – but there are a lot of things that you can do in order to minimize the possibility of them happening. That being said, if you choose to address all of the tips given in this text, the probability is high that everything is going to go well as all of the major hazards are dealt with. Stay safe and good luck!
