COMMON HOME ACCIDENTS AND SAFETY TIPS (Part 1)

You may be of the opinion that it is normal for accidents to happen. Well, I will say it is not necessary and need not happen at all. In fact, some of the most common injuries that occur at home do not have to happen. Unfortunately your home is the place where accidents are most likely to occur.

Everyone should be aware of the dangers in the home so that accidents can be avoided. The purpose of this information is to raise awareness of the type of accidents that may occur in the home and what steps you can take to prevent them.

1.   POISONS

About 90% of poison exposures happen at home, making it the second leading cause of accidental death in the home. Non-fatal poisonings are most common among children under age 5. The most common causes of these poisonings are:

• Cleaning and household products; 
• Personal care and beauty products; 
• Medicines (especially dangerous are those with iron);
• Vitamins;
• Plants;
• Lead and carbon monoxide.

Tips for preventing accidents from poisons:

• Know your poisons. It would be easier if every bottle that contained poison was marked with a skull and crossbones. Poisons come in many forms: cosmetics, garden products such as fertilizer, furniture polish, dishwasher detergent, and carbon monoxide from burning fuel.
• Buy wisely. Purchase products with child safety lids, whenever you can.
• Store safely. Put any product with a warning label up high and in a locked cabinet. Don’t keep medicines in your purse, pockets, or drawers. Keep products in their original containers. Do not use food containers for storage.
• Watch your children. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most child poisonings occur when parents are cooking dinner or not watching their children closely for other reasons.
• Follow directions on chemical products. Open a window when you are using these products. Never mix household cleaning products together – e.g. bleach and ammonia mixed together create a toxic gas.
• Keep carbon monoxide outside. Have heaters, stoves, and fireplaces checked by a professional every year. Carbon monoxide can also enter the house through an adjoining garage. Never run an engine or car motor or use a barbecue in a garage.
• Stay on top of medicines. Follow directions and measure carefully, keep track of when medicines are taken, and put them away right after use. Get rid of expired medicine by crushing or dissolving medications. Don't flush them down the toilet unless the instructions say to do so. Monitor the use of medicines prescribed for teens.

2.   FIRES

Fires and burns are another kitchen hazard and the fourth leading cause of accidental home injury deaths. Cooking and electricity are the main causes of home fire accidents.

Tips to prevent fires include:

• Be careful when cooking. Stay near the stove, especially when frying. Use back burners. Roll up your sleeves (never cook with long, loose sleeves) and use oven mitts. Don’t let kids play near the stove or help you cook at the stove. Slide a lid over the flame to put out small stove fires.
• Don’t neglect maintenance. Have the wiring in your home checked by a professional electrician at least once every 10 years. Chimneys, fireplaces, furnaces, and wood and coal stoves should be checked once a year and cleaned, when necessary.
• Use common sense. Cover electric outlets within children’s reach, get rid of frayed or damaged electrical cords, keep space heaters at least 3 feet away from flammable objects, blow out candles when your leave a room, unplug irons and curling irons when not in use, and put them out of children’s reach.
• Set your hot water heater at 120 degrees F. Water hotter than this can cause burns in two to three seconds.
• Be safe if you smoke. As if there weren’t enough health risks tied to smoking, smoking and smoking-related materials are the main causes of fire-related deaths at home. If you smoke, use fire-safe cigarettes, smoke outside, and douse cigarettes and cigarette butts in water before dumping them in the trash. Better yet, quit.
• Be prepared for a fire. Keep a few fire extinguishers in strategic locations and know how to use them. Consider having a sprinkler system installed if you have a new home. Do a monthly fire drill with your family, practicing how to escape. Teach everyone in the family how to “stop, drop, roll, and cool” if clothes catch fire: Drop immediately to the ground, cross hands over your chest and roll back and forth to put out the flames, and cool the burned area with cool water

 

3.   CHOKING AND SUFFOCATION

Keep children safe with strategies such as these:

• Do house checks often. Look under beds, on top of shelves, and in between sofa cushions for stray bottle caps, nails, safety pins, erasers, refrigerator magnets, broken crayons, and other small items that are choking hazards.
• Watch your children at mealtime. Teach children to chew and swallow their food before talking, laughing, or getting up to move around. Ideally, children under age 4 should not eat small, round, or firm foods unless they are chopped completely. Foods such as hot dogs, carrot sticks, and grapes should be cut them into very small pieces. Food with seeds or pits, nuts, hard candy, and chewing gum can also be choking hazards.
• Help baby sleep safely. Baby cribs should hold only one thing besides a mattress and snugly fitted sheet, a baby! No pillows, toys, comforters, or blankets. Always place babies to sleep on their backs. Make sure there are no ribbons or strings dangling above or in the crib. All spaces between the bed frame and the headboard, footboard, or guardrail should be less than 3.5 inches wide. Slats should be no more than 2 3/8 inches apart.
• Keep strings out of sight. Remove drawstrings from children’s clothing. Tie up window cords well out of children’s reach.
• Be vigilant about plastic bags. Get rid of dry-cleaning and shopping bags immediately. Keep household plastic bags out of reach.
• Be toy smart. When buying toys, follow the age recommendations on the packaging. Check toys frequently for loose or broken parts. Take squeakers out of squeeze toys because they are also choking hazards.
• During Bathing: You should not place small toys in a bathing tub when giving a bath to your child. Ensure to put toys that are appropriate for the child’s age and interest. Never leave your child unattended in the tub, not even for a minute.
• Balloons: Keep a close watch on your children when they are playing with balloons. Besides, it’s best to avoid giving balloons to children who are under the age of five. Check balloons if they are burst and pick up the burst pieces to prevent your children putting them into their mouths. Also, strictly instruct your older children to avoid using burst pieces to make small things, as they could easily slip down and choke their throats.

 

4.   KITCHEN KNIVES

One of the most important safety rules about knives may surprise you: Always use sharp knives. A sharp knife requires less pressure in cutting than a dull knife does, and your hand is less likely to slip.

Here are some other tips:

• Cut correctly. Use the correct size and type of knife for the job you are doing. For example, a small knife is best for trimming vegetables; a long knife for carving meats. Don’t hold something in your hand when cutting it. Use a large cutting board. Curl your fingers under when holding food and cut away from you. Keep your fingers away from the blade. 
• Keep your eyes on your cutting. It’s easy to get distracted by children, TV, and telephones when preparing meals.
• Let falling knives fall. Don’t try to catch a knife. Step back and let it go.
• Watch where you put down a knife. Keep knives away from the edge of a cutting board or counter. Don't throw a towel or napkin on top of a knife so that you can't see it. Never leave a knife in a sink or soapy water, where someone may reach in without looking and grab the blade. Clean, dry, and put away a knife after use.
• Store knives safely. Storing knives in a drawer isn’t good for the blades or your fingers. Instead, store knives in a knife block. If you have small children, make sure it's out of their reach.
• Teach children knife safety. Teach children to walk, not run, in the kitchen. Young children can help out in the kitchen using a plastic knife. When they are old enough to handle a real knife, supervise them and teach them the rules for knife safety. Show them how to always carry a knife pointed down (like scissors).

5.   FALLS

Tips for preventing fall:

• Make the bathroom a no-slip zone. Install grab bars and non-slip mats in the tub or shower. Use a bathmat with a non- slippery bottom and clean up any water that splashes on floors right away. 
• Safety-proof stairs. Remove mess from stairs and walkways. Stairs inside and out should have handrails, preferably on both sides. Have good lighting over stairs. 
• For babies and toddlers, install hardware-mounted safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs. Pressure-mounted gates are less effective. Never use accordion-style gates.
• Put a guard on indoor lofts, landings, balconies, and stair banisters if your child can slip between the posts.
• Use sticky rugs. Rugs which do not stick well on the floor are a big falling hazard for young and old people. At the very least, tape or tack them to the floor.
• Leave a light on. Ideally, have night-lights in bedrooms, bathrooms, and halls.
• Make windows safe. Most children’s deaths are window-related, from falls by themselves or a third. Hence, requiring window guards. Window screens are not strong enough to prevent falls. Install window guards with quick-release mechanisms (in case of fire) on upper floor windows. Keep furniture away from windows, especially in children’s room, and always watch children around windows.
• Get Your Eyesight Checked: Diminishing eyesight can be one of the major reasons of falls for many people. Eyesight usually deteriorates as one gets older. You should ensure that anybody who wears the prescription glasses has the right prescription. Besides, make certain to update the prescription each year. People with other eye disorders, such as blurry vision should address it right away.

6.   DIY (DOING – IT - YOURSELF)

This is when you lack the requisite knowledge and experience, but you are over-ambitious, or probably for lack of money, you embark on doing something which ordinarily is under the expertise of some professionals. This is one of the biggest factors accidents causing death and injury.

• BE REALISTIC. Never tackle a job unless you really have the ability and experience. A competent, qualified person should always carry out gas and electrical renewal or repair works.
• Keep any tools clean and in good repair, and give each one a quick check over before you use it.
• Always plan ahead - accidents happen more easily if you are unprepared and rush.
• Stop and disconnect all electrical appliances and tools before working on them. 
• Ensure that all tools, paint and chemicals are kept safely out of the reach of children.
• Take extra care with sharp cutting tools.
• Follow makers' instructions very carefully when using adhesives, especially the instant type.
• Use an RCD - residual current device - if your home is not already wired as standard.
• Keep children and pets away when carrying out DIY.
• Keep barbecues well away from trees, buildings and fences. Never pour petrol on a barbecue.

At Quick Medics, your health and safety at home is of great concern to us.

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