Home Safety Checklist

Hidden hazards in homes can harm babies and seniors. Thirty-three million people are injured by consumer products in the home each year, but most are preventable. Preventing and hazard-proofing homes can save lives. Age and disability may increase the risk of specific injuries. Maintain a well-stocked first aid kit.

Emergency physicians treat preventable injuries daily and offer these safety tips.

Household Safety

• Keep fire, police, doctor(s), ambulance, and poison control hotlines on every phone (1-800-222-1222).
• Display your address.
• Every floor needs smoke and CO detectors. When daylight savings time begins, change batteries.
• Declutter. Avoid tripping on stairs and walkways.
• Regularly inspect furnaces, water heaters, gas appliances, chimneys, and flues.
• Never use kerosene or gas space heaters in unvented rooms or run cars, motorcycles, or lawnmowers in closed or attached garages.
• Use ladders safely. Check for wear. Use only on stable, level ground.
• Lawn mowing requires protective footwear and eyewear.
• Power tools require eyewear.
• Install decorative markers on glass doors to prevent accidental entry.
• Cell phones run out of power, so have a landline phone in case of an emergency.

Kid-Safe Home Checklist

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, approximately 4.5 million children are injured by hazards in the home each year. Parents should teach their children about safety at home, school, playground, and traveling. This includes their address and 9-1-1 call. Never leave kids alone.

• Cover unused sockets and keep cords away from children.
• Pad sharp-cornered furniture.
• Use safety latches and locks on cabinets and drawers.
• Keep kids safe. Install stairway gates. Guard banisters and railings if your child can fit through them.
• Secure tall bookcases, TVs, and other unstable items.
• Window guards and safety netting prevent falls from windows, balconies, and landings. (If window guards are used, make sure at least one window in each room can be easily used as an exit in case of fire.)
• Tie vertical blind cords.
• To prevent small children from leaving the house, cover entry doorknobs.
• Use nightlights, but keep children away from the small plastic bulbs.
• Install one-piece doorstops or remove rubber tips from door stops to prevent children from choking.
• Check all equipment recalls, including “hand-me-downs.”
• Keep drugs and chemicals like bleach and cleaning products out of reach and in their original containers to avoid confusion.
• Vitamins, medicines, and household products with child-resistant caps.
• Keep small toys and objects out of toddlers’ reach. The thing can choke if it fits easily into the cardboard center of a toilet paper roll.
• Unload and lock firearms. Separately store weapons and ammunition.
• Remove houseplants from children.

Click here     the Single Mom Living Alone

Kitchen-specific

• Turn stove handles inward or uses back burners.
• Keep glass and bladed appliances out of reach.
• Keep plastic bags—garbage, sandwich, dry-cleaning, grocery—out of reach.

Bedroom-specific

• To prevent your child from falling through the crack, use a crib that meets current standards and has a firm, tight-fitting mattress.
• Keep crib slats under 2 3/8 (6 centimeters).
• Never put blankets, pillows, or extra stuffed animals in cribs to avoid suffocation.
• Suffocation or strangulation can occur if babies sleep in adult beds.
• Toy chests should be non-locking with lid supports to prevent slamming.

Bathrooms

• Install emergency releases on bathroom and bedroom doors to prevent children from locking themselves in.
• To avoid scalding, keep your water heater below 125°F.
• Turn off curling irons, hair dryers, and electric razors.
• Lock up mouthwash, perfume, hairspray, and nail polish: with scissors, razors, and sharp tools.
• Bathtub nonskid strips.
• Check grounded outlets.

Outdoors

• Clear walkways.
• Remove ladders from above-ground pools.
• Check swing sets for rust and sharp edges.
• Avoid lawnmowers and other sharp garden tools with young children.
• Install a four-sided pool fence with an automatic “childproof” gate.

Protection

• Keep kitchen and floor fire extinguishers.
• Lock matches and lighters.
• Keep an emergency ladder for upstairs.
• Fire escape plan.

Elderly and Disabled Home Safety Checklist

Falls and poisoning are especially dangerous for seniors. Visual, auditory, and physical impairments contribute. To protect your loved one:

• Clear paths with furniture.
• Grab bars, and other safety devices help with bathing and showering.
• Ensure the tub or shower bottom is nonskid.
• Elevate the toilet.
• Try a panic button (as a pendant, wristband, or necklace).
• Declutter. Leave nothing on stairs or walkways.
• Remove throws. Avoid tripping by securing other rugs.
• Secure stair handrails and banisters.
• Bedroom, hall, and bathroom nightlights. Illuminate stairways.
• Nonslip treads on bare wood steps.
• Repair loose stairway carpeting or boards.
• To avoid mixing dosages, use color-coded medicine caps if multiple family members take the same medication.