It pays to make your home safe as it can be
Home safety is extremely important as accidents too often occur within the confines of a home. So, this may be a good time to take into account a few easy-to-practice safety features that will make living in the home more enjoyable because it is safer.
•Probably the most efficient, useful and inexpensive items leading your safety list would be the battery-powered smoke detector. In the event your power goes off you still have a viable energy source that will make the detector “sing” whenever a fire is threatening. Just be sure to change the batteries in the smoke detectors at least once a year.
They should be installed in key locations, such as the bedrooms, bedroom hallway, kitchen, basement, fireplace area — and any rooms that smokers frequent.
•A lot of homeowners keep a small fire extinguisher handy in the kitchen and fireplace area where flare-ups can occur. All big fires generally were tiny ones when they started, so don’t forget to get everyone — people and pets — out of the house if needed and call in the professional fire fighters if the extinguisher didn’t get the job done.
•Fire hazards occur in homes, too. So store all paints, solvents and other materials with ignitable fumes in a well-ventilated area. Rags soaked with flammable material should be discarded in metal cans outside.
•Electrical and mechanical things work better and last longer when they are occasionally serviced — once a year works best. Your heating and air-conditioning systems need to be checked and serviced guided by maintenance instructions in your owners’ manuals.
•There’s a lot of potential trouble in kitchen appliances. Replace damaged cords or plugs. Make sure electrical outlets are properly grounded and rated for the appliances plugged into them. If an outlet or a plug becomes warm, turn off the appliance and call an electrician. Too many appliances plugged into a single outlet can overload an improperly protected circuit.
•If you have a temporary shortage of outlets, use a surge protector to increase your plug-in capacity. A common type plugs into a grounded three-prong outlet and has an electrical breaker that will trip if there is an overloaded circuit.
If you don’t have them, consider installing ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets in the bathroom, near the kitchen sink and anywhere there is the potential for electrical contact with water. These outlets sense an unusual power surge and break the circuit almost instantly. Getting electrocuted could ruin your whole day.
•Just as airlines inform their customers before takeoff of the exits available around the airplane, it is an excellent idea to do the same with your home. Have a plan in mind and if disaster hits your home, you will be much better prepared to handle whatever happens. Help children in your home to also pick out a route to safety in different sets of circumstances. If you have a second story, have a firmly secured ladder of knotted rope available to vacate safely.
•While you are looking around the home to prevent any accidental problems from occurring, also take a look at your security profile. If you have hollow wood doors, you would be wise to replace them with doors constructed of steel or solid-core materials. This may seem simple, but check to make sure your hinge pins are located inside the home where no one can reach them.
•Accidents do happen, so keep a handy list of emergency phone numbers near the phones. Sometimes seconds can make a difference.
•You could easily install lights triggered by motion outside the home. If someone who shouldn’t be in your yard is there, the light will turn on when they move. According to police records, homes lighted at night discourage crime.
•Take a cruise around your home and see if any item is a potential problem.
There may not be any at all — but the Boy Scouts were right on with their motto “Be Prepared.”
Always.