Health & Safety General

Home Sweet Home – Our home is our haven, it’s where we feel safe, comfortable & relaxed with our surroundings, a place where we can express ourselves. Homes are healthful places BUT only if you follow simple rules of safety. In order to feel healthy & safe within the four walls we live in safety regulations have to be followed and it’s our duty to recognize the dangers – not only for our own safety but also for the safety of other family members.

Did you know that 50% of all accidental injuries occur in the home and about 35% of all accidental deaths also occur in the home – frightening statistics & what makes it more frightening is that it all stems from someone who has acted carelessly or has not bothered to follow simple rules of safety – people tend to forget to realize the dangers involved.

The three main causes of accidental injuries/deaths at home are:

• Fires/burns
• Toxic Poison
• To trip & fall

It’s important to remember that….

IGNORANCE OF SAFETY RULES CAN COST YOU YOUR LIFE

How safe is your home? Or should I say, Is your home a dangerous place? – An accident waiting to happen. Take a few seconds and look all around you and you will notice that “home-sweet-home” can be a hazardous place. Objects such as tools, machinery, cleaning materials, electrical appliances, medicines, pills etc.. surround us - Things that most of us take lightly around the home yet can cause serious implications to our health & safety if we do not follow simple safety regulations. Its important in making safety a recognized part of everyday life – even more so in our homes seeing that it is in our homes where 50% of accidental injuries occur & 35% of accidental deaths occur – staggering statistics that makes you wonder where we are going wrong.

Picture this......

¤¤ - Home A - ¤¤
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• - Overloaded wall sockets
• - Medicines exposed & easy to reach
• - Messy home – objects littered around the home
• - Match boxes around the kitchen
• - Gas cooker with hot pan handles facing outwards
• - A cigarette that hasn’t been put out properly
• - Faulty electrical wiring
• - Running wires & cords in dangerous places
• - Exposed flammable materials

Basically - Home "A" is an accident waiting to happen – Home "A" is a dangerous place, no health & safety precautions have been taken & none of the simple safety rules have been applied and so your health & safety is at risk. You are seconds away from being burnt toast – Overloaded wall sockets, faulty electrical wiring, haven’t quite stubbed out the cigarette properly can all contribute to fires and in some cases death – dangerous electrical shocks can also cause death so if you don’t know what you are doing when you buy a new appliance then leave to someone who does, remember that faulty electrical wiring can cause fires – one of the main three killers in our homes.

Another potential danger in Home "A" is the easy access to medicines – Children are curious and they will not think twice in swallowing pills they think are sweets & that also applies to cleaning materials & other toxic substances. Each year poisoning causes a lot of accidental deaths in the home as people fail to realize the importance of having to keep these items locked away in a safe place – all medicines should be out of reach from children or locked in a medicine cabinet. It’s the younger children that are always the victims in these situations and so it’s up to the parents to recognize the potential dangers & keep their children healthy & safe from what can become a tragic death.

Believe it or not but trips & falls is one of the main killers in our homes – Home "A" is a messy home not to mention its littered with objects all of which can easily cause a serious accident. A wrong slip of the ankle whilst walking down the stairs can cause a fatal accident, stairways should be clear and tidy. Not only the stairways but all rooms around the house should be kept clean & tidy, that also includes the garden – It is very easy to lose your balance when tripping over an object & having no control as to where you will land. You can knock your head onto anything & can cause some serious damage. Simple as it may sound people still fail to get the message.

Due to carelessness the child is being rushed to hospital after being burnt & scalded – Home "A" has not bothered to follow the simple safety rules and is now rushing his son to hospital. The gas cooker was left unattended for a few seconds but a few seconds is all that is needed for an accidental injury to happen. The handle of the pan was facing outwards and so the toddler had no trouble getting to it, there is only one outcome after that – a burnt & scald child crying with pain. – Again its up to the parents to recognize the potential dangers. Pan & saucepan handles should be facing inwards, especially if you have young children around the house & if you really want to be extra safe then place the hot pans at the back of the cooker away from reach.

Now picture this.........

¤¤ - Home B - ¤¤
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• - Fire/smoke alarm installed
• - Extra electrical outlets installed
• - Medicines locked away in cabinet, away from children’s reach
• - Tidy housekeeping
• - Electrical wiring serviced by an electrician
• - All saucepans facing inwards
• - Toxic, flammable & cleaning materials kept in a safe place
• - Cigarettes extinguished properly

Unlike Home "A", Home "B" has taken health & safety precautions. By following simple safety rules Home "B" is far better equipped from preventing accidents from happening as well as providing a safer environment for all family members. There is no carelessness instead a fire alarm has been installed, all medicines & other toxic substances are kept locked away in a safe place thus preventing young children from getting access to them.

No overloaded wall sockets, instead additional outlets have been added – cigarettes are extinguished out properly and a professional electrician has been called in to solve & fix any complicated job, thus preventing faulty electrical wiring & more importantly preventing fires.

Tidy housekeeping – Home "B" is free from objects scattered all over the floor making it a safer place to walk around. Remember that slips & falls is the main cause of accidental injuries/deaths in the home and so this should not be taken lightly. Energetic young children love to run around the house & garden and so the more reason to keep the floor clear of objects. Elderly people can easily twist their ankle and fall very quickly to the floor if they step on something unexpected, a fall can lead to far greater consequences.

Unlike Home "A" where the child had to be rushed to hospital, Home "B" has taken the proper safety precautions by making sure the saucepans & pots on the cooker are facing inwards – Preventing any burns and scalds on the child, or any family member that happens to be around. A simple safety rule that can save lives if followed properly.

¤¤ - Bottom Line - ¤¤
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Its all too easy to overlook basic safety around the home & its only until something serious happens that we act. I hope I have been able to high light & emphasize some of the important issues of health & safety around the home - enough to persuade even a small minority out there, that by following a set of simple rules it can make all the difference between life & death. Living in a healthy & safety home environment depends on you - So long as you take the right safety measures & follow the simple rules of safety around the home (most of it is common sense) then you are preventing any possible dangers that could occur - people tend to forget the dangers involved until its too late.

Invaluable advice so take heed - Don`t end up being a statistic.

Thanks for reading.... © Versatile 2001