Home Safety Tips

The Home Safety Council reminds us to make our home a safer place with these ten tips:

1. Install smoke alarms on every floor. Test them monthly.
2. Develop a fire escape plan for your family. The plan should have two exits out of every room and a place to meet outside. Hold a family fire drill at least twice each year.
3. Always stay in the kitchen while food is cooking on the stove.
4. Keep all stairways, paths and walkways clear of clutter and well lit.
5. Install grab bars in bath and shower stalls, and use a non-slip mat or adhesive safety strips inside bathtubs and showers.
6. Post emergency numbers and the National Poison Control Hotline number (1-800-222-1222) next to every phone in your home.
7. Install child locks on all cabinets used to store dangerous items such as cleaners, matches, lighters and household chemicals.
8. Keep your water heater setting at 120 degrees Fahrenheit or less.
9. If you have a pool, install four-sided pool fencing with self-locking and self-closing gates. Fencing should completely isolate the pool from the home and be least five feet high.
10. Stay within arm’s length and constantly supervise children in or near water such as pools, ponds, bathtubs and buckets

Thanks to the HealthBeat blog.