Avoiding Holiday Hazards When Holiday Planning
Got guests coming to stay this holiday season? When holiday planning, the Home Safety Council offers advice to help you prepare your home for friends and family of all ages:
Check the lights over all stairways, hallways, porches and doors to ensure all bulbs are working and bright enough to illuminate the entire area below. Stick to the maximum safe wattage, which is printed inside the fixture.
Install non-stick strips or mats in tubs and showers and attach a sturdy grab-bar on the edge of the tub. Place nightlights inside bathrooms or in the hallways leading to them.
If your guests will include toddlers, purchase safety gates and place them at the tops and bottoms of stairways.
If you have an attached garage and/or fuel-burning heat or appliances, your home should have a carbon monoxide (CO) detector installed to protect sleeping areas.
Post the local and national poison control hotline number, as well as other local emergency numbers, near every telephone. The National Poison Control Hotline is 1-800-222-1222.
Make sure all matches and lighters, medications, household cleaners, toiletries and other dangerous products are in original containers with child-proof closures and/or locked in a cabinet. Remember to keep purses, backpacks and luggage out of children's reach, too.
Every home must have working smoke alarms on each level and protecting all the places people will be sleeping. Before guests arrive, test every smoke alarm and replace any dead or missing batteries.
Walk through your home fire escape plan with guests, pointing out primary and secondary exits and the outside meeting place.
Prevent scalds by turning your hot water heater temperature to 120 degrees F or less.
When toddlers are visiting, use toilet seat locks to prevent drowning. Be aware that buckets, spas, tubs and all standing water are a serious drowning risk for early walkers.
Make guest rooms safe as well as welcoming. Place a nightlight inside each room and the hallway outside it. Provide each guest with a working flashlight. If possible, place a telephone in each guest room as well. Holiday planning should make safety a priority!
Provided by The Home Safety Council (HSC), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing home related injuries that result in nearly 20,000 deaths and 21 million medical visits on average each year. Through national programs, partnerships and the support of volunteers, HSC educates people of all ages about home safety. HSC provides educational resources for teachers, policy makers, corporations as well as fire and life safety experts to help educate and empower families to take actions that will increase the safety of their homes.
report abuse
Submit!
