39 Top Home Safety Tips Everyone Should Know.
Home safety tips ensure the risk of harm and potential dangers are minimized as low as reasonably practicable. The safety risks in the home can cause damage to household items and destruction of lives and properties in the environment.
Engaging in home safety tips will prepare you to have a sound knowledge of the risks and what to apply to prevent those risks from causing problems in the home.
Home safety involves the identification of hazards in the home, evaluating those hazards and their risk of harm and damage and applying acceptable safety standards to them.
Importance of safety at home.
Safety at home is vital as it does the following;
- It helps to keep your home safe and free of dangers that will cause harm.
- It assists in keeping your home safe with the various safety products.
- Good habits learnt from home safety help to keep the home safe with no harm to your loved ones.
- Older people are safe when there is the practice of home safety. Mostly, they rely on wheelchairs to move into their homes. Home safety tips ensure that they do not impede their movement with wheelchairs.
- Home safety preserves the safety of your kids and prevents them from harm.
Hazards in the home.
Fire.
Fires are among the leading causes of harm, often dangerous to people and properties. The availability of portable fire extinguishers and smoke alarms is needed to fight small fires and detect whenever a fire starts in the homes.
Sharp objects.
Sharp objects like nails, needles, syringes and knives can cause serious harm to a person when used carelessly. Take proper precautions during the storage and use of a knife in the home. Knife injuries can be fatal when not managed properly. More so, sharp objects can cause a lot of damage for children.
Slippery surfaces.
Slippery surfaces can pose a risk of harm in the homes. Surfaces that are slippery can lead to falls. Water and oil spills are the cause of slippery surfaces. To address this, you need an adequate measure to prevent slippery surfaces by cleaning them up immediately. In addition, remove all Surfaces prone to slip with a non-slippery floor.
Gas leak.
Cooking gas leak is a cause of fire disaster in homes. Do all you can to prevent Gas leaks by ensuring your gas pipes and connections are in good condition. When using a gas cylinder for your gases, practice gas cylinder safety. Gas leaks can cause explosions.
Falls.
Falls are among the leading cause of accidents in homes. Falls can result from slippery floors, working at height activities, running, engaging in plays or excessive horseplay. Hitting the leg on any obstruction can result in a fall. This hazard affects older people the most. Falls can lead to fatality if the severity is high.
Carbon monoxide.
Carbon monoxide is a dangerous gas that can make someone ill when they breathe it in. The gas replaces the oxygen in the blood and can cause tissue damage.C02 is odourless, tasteless and colourless, so preventing any avenue that can cause this gas to start in the homes is the right thing to do. Carbon monoxide exists from burning fuels, gas, wood, charcoal and propane.
Choking
Children ages 1 to 5 can mistakenly eat what they are not supposed to eat, or they put small objects (batteries, beads and stones ) in their mouths when playing. As a way of exploring the world, they put Objects in their mouth. These objects can block their airways and result in choking.
Mould.
Mould happens when the walls become too wet, and those surfaces will start growing. The common cause of this hazard is condensation. Being allergic to mould can lead to health disturbances such as dizziness, itching eyes, sneezing and even headache. That said, proper ventilation and heating are necessary to prevent this hazard in the home.
Substance Poisoning.
There are lots of household substances that can cause poisoning when they are not used and stored in the right way. Items such as detergents, medications, and even petrol can cause poisoning to people in the home. Therefore, put appropriate care into the storage and handling of these substances.
39 Vital home safety tips everyone should know.
- Keep all medications in the house out of reach of children.
- Label all medicines in the home to avoid misplacing one for the other.
- Read the medicine labels before use and ensure everyone in the home does the same.
- Do not keep expired drugs and medicines in your home.
- Dispose of them accordingly.
- Use your medicine at the appropriate dose. Do not exchange it with anyone.
- Do not take medicines with alcohol as this may interfere with each other.
- Avoid all forms of drug abuse.
- Do not expose medications to direct sunlight.
- Provide portable fire extinguishers and place them at strategic locations in the house.
- Train everyone in the home on the use of fire extinguishers.
- Do not place the fire extinguishers in the wrong locations or hidden places from the users.
- Ensure that all door lock is in good condition.
- Repair all damaged door locks.
- Install a functional fire alarm system in the home.
- Install CCTV in your homes to monitor your home.
- Manage what you post to the internet as this may give room to unwanted persons in your home.
- Do not use slippery floors in your home.
- Wipe out all spills in your home immediately.
- Ensure that all staircase in your home has a proper handrail and that you inspect them regularly.
39 Vital home safety tips everyone should know.
- Use proper electrical connections in your home and invite a competent electrician when handling any of the electrical repairs in your home.
- Put proper illumination in your home.
- Inspect all your electrical appliances regularly and avoid using any damaged ones.
- Practice good hygiene in your living room.
- Store all hazardous substances separately and label them.
- Store all sharp knives in a knife rack.
- Mark cold and hot faucets clearly in your bathroom.
- Make use of a door lock that can open from both sides.
- Avoid standing on chairs but rather sit on them.
- Do not stand on ladders when not in use.
- If possible, do not smoke inside the room or in your bed, but in an open place.
- Do not get up from the chair very fast when you’re
- Get proper illumination in all staircases.
- Use recommended bathing aids in the bathroom and properly install them on the walls of the bath or shower stall and the sides of the toilet.
- Do not overload your extension cables and sockets; this may cause fire in the homes.
- Make sure you use the correct electrical adapters for your sockets.
- Do not work at height in the home without using the appropriate platform.
- When using a ladder, ensure that the ladder is safe, secure and appropriate for the work.
- Do not place cables at the walkways to prevent trips and falls.
Read also:
- Free HSE Documents.
- Ten Essential Skills Every hse Officer Should Master for Workplace Safety
- 7 Effective ways to boost employee morale.
- What is competence, and why is it important?
- Ways to prevent an electric shock
Onyeka Emma is a QHSE Professional with more than 10 years of experience in occupational health and safety, which spans many industries such as construction, beverage, oil and gas, etc. He has many health and safety certifications, including NEBOSH IGC, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 45001:2018 Lead auditor certificate. A member of IOSH, ISPON, and Nigeria Red Cross Society. He is interested in business, entrepreneurship, Speaking, and motivating people to do better for themselves. He enjoys leisure with a good motivational book.
