Safety First: Some Home Safety Tips From the Home Inspectors
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It’s not the most pleasant thing to think about, but homes are full of hazards. From drowning to electrocution, from a bad fall to a fire, so many terrible things can happen at home that it’s a wonder any of us get any sleep. Awareness of some of the most common household accidents, however, can be half the battle when it comes to preventing them, so we’ll be looking at household safety over the next couple of weeks here at Upon Closer Inspection with some safety tips from the home inspectors.
Step By Step
These steps are not wide enough at the handrail according to code, unless you are a gnome. Which is a shame because I have to say these stairs are giving big “grand entrance” vibes. Anyway, the number one cause of home-related death is falling. There are more than 1 million stairwell injuries each year in the United States — and those are just the reported ones. I fall on the stairs on a regular basis. We do not need help hurting ourselves on the stairs from poorly built stairwells.
Don’t Flip That Switch
So weird. It’s probably rainwater in the light, but why the plumbing pipe on the fixture?? At any rate, water and electricity do not mix. There is a death from electrocution every day in the United States, and approximately 4,000 injuries due to home electrocution each year. Water and electricity mixing is one of the top five reasons people get electrocuted at home. The others are: faulty appliances, old wiring, a faulty switch or outlet, and improper handling of electricity.
Fire Safety
Inspector Travis makes some great points in this video. Too often, we see missing or disabled smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in homes. Listen, we know that incessant beeping is annoying, but all you have to do is change the battery, y’all. Trust and believe, you will be thankful it was there and working when you need it.
Having a fire safety plan with your family is so important. We teach our children this at school and then often forget about it at home. Make sure everyone in your home knows what to do in case of a fire, and periodically have a family meeting to practice.
We can all be accident-prone, and there are just so many ways for that to play out at home. Check out a great list of some common home hazards here, and tune in next week for more home safety tips from the home inspectors.
