Common Home Hazards and How to Remove Them
Being aware of hazard risks within your home environment is the first step to mitigating them. Falling, fires, drowning, poisoning, and home invasion are common examples. We provide some tips below on how to prevent them from materializing and cause you grief. Note, this is not an exhaustive list, so you should conduct a hazard risk assessment of your home environment to identify all the hazards that exist and develop a plan for mitigating them.
- Falling
- Young children and seniors are particularly susceptible to falls. Implement the following measures to eliminate this hazard for them:
- Keep the floors dry to prevent any slipping, especially in the kitchen and bathrooms.
- Use safety gates to close off staircases from wandering kids.
- Make sure that staircases are well-lit, are clear of clutter, do not have loose carpeting, and have the appropriate handrails.
Fires and Burns
Install smoke detectors, check them regularly, and replace the batteries at least once a year.
Electrical hazards can cause fires, check for frayed extension cords or exposed wiring.
Remove dry vegetation around your home, especially during the dry seasons.
Use the back burners of stoves so children can’t accidentally knock over pots or grab something hot.
Drowning
Gate your pool off properly. That means four-sided fencing with a self-closing and self-latching gate around the pool.
Keep the gate locked at all times to further ensure children can’t easily wander into deep water.
Do not leave large open containers of water in the yard or in the house unattended.
Poisoning
Keep household cleaning supplies, paints, and other chemicals high up on shelves or in a shed out of children’s reach.
Store medicines and vitamins out of children’s reach. Avoid placing them on countertops or tables where kids can easily get to them.
Turn off gas stoves before leaving the kitchen.
Home Invasion
Install a home security system.
Make sure locks are in place and are functioning correctly.
Keep your doors closed even when you’re home, including the garage doors.
With the children home on vacation from school, it is important to keep them comfortable and safe. Complete your hazard assessment and identify what changes you need to make to improve safety in your home. If you need to hire a tradesman or contractor to assist with making the changes, ConvergedTech takes the hassle out of finding the right one. Just tell us the details of your safety improvement project and we will search through hundreds of tradesmen profiles to find the best ones for what you need. Get in touch with us today.