Home Safety
According to KidsHealth.org, more than one third of child injuries and deaths happen at home. Young children are at the highest risk for this, because they spend most of their time at home. Keeping your home safe is important when you have children of any age
Most incidents occur where there is water (in the bathroom, kitchen, swimming pool, hot tubs, etc.); heat or fire (in the kitchen, fireplace, or at the grill outside); toxic substances (under the sink, in the medicine cabinet or any place where medicine is kept, in the garage or shed); potential for a fall (stairs, slippery floors, high windows, tipping furniture); and/or potential choking hazards (long cords, unsafe sleep environments to infants, food like whole grapes or hot dogs that pose a choking risk).
You can make your home a safer place for children, but accidents may still happen. Be sure to always supervise children, keep a first aid kit, learn some basic first aid, and learn CPR and the Heimlich maneuver for infants and children as well!
Home Safety Checklist
- Use window guards on windows above ground level.
- Don’t use pressure-mounted gates at the top of stairs.
- Install a four-sided isolation fence separating the pool area from the house and yard. This reduces a child’s risk of drowning by 83% when compared to homes with three-sided property-line fencing.
- Never leave a child unattended by water or in a bathtub.
- Use childproof devices on toilets.
- Set your water heater thermostat at less than 120 degrees Fahrenheit for hot water to prevent scalding. Test the water on the inside of your wrist (it’s more sensitive there) before placing infant or child in bathtub.
- Keep appliance cords out of reach and cover electric outlets that aren’t in use.
- Have smoke alarms on every level of the house and outside each sleeping area. Check smoke alarms at least twice a year.
- Have a working carbon monoxide detector and avoid using portable space heaters, especially overnight.
- Keep medications, cleaning solutions, and other similar items out of sight and reach of children.
- Keep products in the original packaging or in a labeled container.
