Archives for October 2017

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As the head of your family unit, there are likely a number of things which are important to you. Your family staying safe, healthy, and happy are likely at the top three. Preparing for your family’s future is likely part of it too. Spending time with each other is likely something which underpins all of your scheduling, and all of the use of your free time. A tight-knit family unit is something which can help each of its members get over the most insidious of challenges, and become stronger as a result.

Notice the very first thing we listed as the likely priority you have for your family. Namely, safety. Safety is the one thing which you cannot run a happy family without. You need to make sure that your loved ones are protected and feel secure in their home environment at the very least. If this is difficult to accomplish or provide, it’s only a matter of time before the integrity of the relationships become difficult to maintain. For this reason, and as a new homeowner, you need to make sure that the family home is not contributing to the ill health of your family members in any way at all. Otherwise, not only will you experience an unfortunate unhappiness in your home life, but your loved ones could experience an unfortunate health issue or injury which is preferably avoided.

We’d like to offer the following tips to potentially help you out of these difficulties, but to provide you with a safe homestead you can be proud of owning and running.

Falls

Fall hazards are not to be ignored. They are the most common home injury experienced from year to year. One in five adults who experience a fall experience some form of broken bone or head injury. If that can injure an adult, just imagine how dangerous it could be for a child, or for an elderly relative. For these reasons, it’s important to try and get rid of all trip hazards around your home.

To begin with, you want to make sure that your home is continually tidy. Children’s toys, messy storage areas, and staircases which are impeded or blocked in any way will all contribute to an unsafe home, and sooner or later you will experience a trip under these circumstances. Make sure to continually keep an eye on your homes walkways, and pick up objects which shouldn’t be there. This is a constant battle because children and pets enjoy leaving their toys around the house in the hard to find places, but it’s no less important that you do. Make sure to purchase categorized storage containers so everything can be in its right place within a matter of moments.

However, toys aren’t the only danger here. Sometimes flooring surfaces can lead to slipping hazards, particularly those experienced in bathrooms. Wet tiles can be slippy to stand on no matter how well coordinated your balance is. To overcome this, consider placing down a gripped rug on the surfaces that are most stepped on, such as the first steps out of a shower or bathtub.

Pests

Pests can plague your home without prior warning. There are some things which may spur them on, such as improper waste refuse, or small entranceways into your property, but for the most part, you might not be able to prevent a rodent or a pest which truly wants to make it’s home in yours. These creatures can sometimes bring disease with them or can chew through the electronic cables you have in your firmaments. It’s important to get rid of them as soon as you’ve identified an issue.

Sometimes, mosquitos or fire ants can make their way into your home, and can severely hurt your infants or children who are exposed to them. For this reason, your first and only port of call should be to hire an experienced pest control outfit, such as ABC Home & Commercial. These firms often offer complete and total pest control strategies which help eliminate the problem without having to ruin the structural integrity of your home. They can also advise you on common practices which could prevent an outbreak of this kind from interrupting your home life once more, and that’s something to be prized.

Fires

This list would not be complete without an exploration of the fire safety standards you have in your home. Of course, everyone knows that a fire alarm within each space of your home is encouraged, and they should be checked regularly for their effectiveness. Common perception encourages that you check them at least every year, but we’d suggest checking them every three months. Checking them only take a minute, so be sure to check them more regularly if that’s something you’d like to do.

Good fire safety precautions can never take too much time. You should also sit your family down at least once every six months and reflect on the plan to go through if there’s a fire, such as routes to take and a meeting point outside. You should also teach your children the benefits of monitoring candles (if they are old enough to keep them,)  the benefits of unplugging appliances when not needed, as well as looking out for frayed wires.

Educated your children as they enter their young teenage years on how to call the fire department, and what information to give. Also teach them about keeping water away from electrical appliances or sockets, and overloading the electrical circuit in their bedrooms. Awareness is key, so make sure you develop this in your children early.

Choking

Choking is a hazard which can evade your awareness until it happens. It will usually happen to children who are exploratory with their mouths, and could potentially swallow small toys or objects. It can also happen to adults who climb the stairs with a toothbrush in their mouth. The point here is that no one is immune to a choking hazard, so make sure that you inspect toys, inspect the behaviors of your children and try to keep the dangers out of reach. For small children, cutting up food and emphasizing the importance of swallowing could be the life lesson you need to give at this age.

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Security

Your home should be your castle, and your family should be the only people you are concerned with protecting within its walls. For this reason, making sure that you keep on top of your home security is of paramount importance. Not only should you worry about keeping bad people out of your home through security measures like home alarms, solidly locked doors, and potentially CCTV systems, but you should attempt to keep your children from getting out with locked gates, high fences or walls and locked doors during the day.

Children are notorious for running wherever they please when excited, and so it’s important to prevent them the opportunity for doing this. This is of paramount importance if you live in a highly populated area, or near a road. While you may desire to let, your children play out in the garden, if your garden doesn’t have solid fencing around it, you must keep a watchful eye over them at all times, and never be too far away from them. If you couldn’t make it to your child’s side within thirty seconds in an emergency, you are likely too far away, and would benefit from keeping you by their side.

Unfortunately, despite playing outside being a common fixture of most of our childhoods, until your children are of a reasonable and responsible age, it’s wise today to prevent them from heading outside on their own. The risk is simply too great, and in highly populated areas, you can never be sure what someone’s intent is.

Kitchen

Of course, a home needs to have a functioning kitchen, otherwise, the family feeding options would be limited, expensive, unhealthy and boring. For the most part, every family will require a well-maintained home kitchen, with all of the utensils and equipment necessary to provide a hearty cooked meal for every family member. However, you’d be wrong to think that just because a kitchen has dangerous implements, they are okay to ignore while you are there. Remember, children are often very curious, and will look in every draw or cupboard they can as they explore the home they live in.

Be sure to keep knives, heavy cooking utensils, and cleaning products well out of reach of even the most acrobatic child. Make sure to cover your stove knobs with covers so you can prevent burns from occurring. In draws which you’d rather restrict access to, consider placing catches inside which only strong adult fingers can open. When it comes to the kitchen table, adding foam corners to each sharp end can prevent a running child from hitting it head first. Assess the safety of your entire kitchen, and make adjustments where necessary, so you can focus on cooking beautiful meals, and not worrying about the health of your family members.

With this advice, your home is likely to become a much safer and relaxing place to inhabit.