Making Your Home as Safe as It Can Be

March 31, 2016

As concerned parents, we are constantly striving to make our home the safest place possible for our children. Below is a list of 12 safety devices to protect children in your home, compiled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:

  1. Use SAFETY LATCHES and LOCKS for cabinets and drawers in kitchens, bathrooms and other areas to help prevent poisonings and other injuries.
  2. Use SAFETY GATES to help prevent falls down stairs and to keep children from entering rooms and other areas with possible dangers.
  3. Use DOOR KNOB COVERS and DOOR LOCKS to help prevent children from entering rooms and other areas with possible dangers.
  4. Use ANTI-SCALD DEVICES FOR FAUCETS and SHOWER HEADS and set your water heater temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to help prevent burns from hot water.
  5. Use SMOKE ALARMS on every level of your home, inside each bedroom and outside sleeping areas to alert you to fires.
  6. Use WINDOW GUARDS and SAFETY NETTING to help prevent falls from windows, balconies, decks, and landings.
  7. Use CORNER and EDGE BUMPERS to help prevent injuries from falls against sharp edges of furniture and fireplaces.
  8. Use OUTLET COVERS and OUTLET PLATES to help prevent electrocution.
  9. Use a CARBON MONOXIDE (CO) ALARM near sleeping areas to help prevent CO poisoning.
  10. Use a TASSEL ON EACH SEPARATE WINDOW BLIND CORD AND INNER CORD STOPS ON MINI BLINDS to help prevent strangulation.
  11. Use ANCHORS TO AVOID FURNITURE AND APPLIANCE TIP-OVERS. Free standing ranges and stoves should be installed with anti-tip brackets.
  12. Use LAYERS OF PROTECTION WITH POOLS AND SPAS. This consists of a barrier completely surrounding the pool or spa, including a four-foot tall fence with self-closing, self-latching gates.

It is never too early to talk to your children about the proper way to handle a house-fire. Although it is an easy topic to put off, it is important to plan at least two escape routes from each room of the house, and a meeting point outside the house. This planning process should involve every member of the household, and should include a plan for very young children that may not be able to respond without adult support. Also, it is important to talk about safety tips such as crawling on the floor to avoid breathing smoke, and “Stop, Drop and Roll.”