By: Molly Peck 

Your home is often the place where you feel safest. But the reality is that an accident can always happen inside a house, especially if you are not careful enough when handling electrical objects, gas, or the stove. You do not have to live paranoid in your own home, but you do need to take some safety measures to avoid accidents. In this article, you will find useful information on how to avoid accidents and what to do if they occur.

Although our home may seem like the safest place, there are certain precautions that all family members should be aware of. Falls, burns, electric shocks, and harmful inhalation are some examples of the dangers to which we are exposed.

It is necessary to take a prudent attitude in our daily lives to prevent these types of accidents, for which it is essential to know the risks that we may face in the different areas of the house.

Remember that to prevent, we can take active and passive precautionary measures. For example, if we have a swimming pool at home, active prevention would be teaching the child to swim. The passive measure would be putting a fence around the pool. Let’s see what other preventive measures you can take.

Most Common Accidents

Domestic accidents are fortuitous events that occur at home, beyond our control, and often cause injuries. Although we may feel that no such incident can happen in our house, homes are one of the places where most accidents occur, and they constitute a major health problem.

The kitchen is the room in the house where most of these accidents occur because there are many dangerous utensils such as knives, scissors, electrical appliances, elements that reach high temperatures, or cleaning products that can be harmful if not used properly. Falls and slips can also occur in the bathtub, and in the bathroom in general. Accidents can occur with electrical appliances or hygiene items. The garden is another place that needs special attention.

In the rest of the home, it is possible to have some problem with the plugs or with bumps, knocks, or crushes with furniture, stairs, sharp edges, or toys thrown on the floor, and you have to be careful with other elements such as windows, terraces, railings or bunk beds, among others.

Falls

These are usually caused by dirty or slippery floors (grease, oil), slipping in the bathtub, poorly placed objects that could make us trip, and trying to reach objects placed at an inappropriate height.

Recommended prevention measures

• Keep the floor clean without products that could make us slip, such as polishes or waxes.
• Place grab bars and non-slip mats in the bathtub.
• Always keep the house as tidy as possible. Children should learn to pick up their toys when they finish playing.
• Place rugs correctly so as not to trip over them.
• Do not use chairs or stools as a ladder.
• Do not leave small children alone on a raised surface, such as changing tables or high chairs.

Poisoning

There are different reasons why you can suffer poisoning at home, such as taking medication without medical supervision, inhaling cleaning products, or eating spoiled food, among others.

Recommended prevention measures

• Store the most dangerous products in a safe place, perfectly labeled or in their original packaging.
• Do not store toxic products in the same place as food.
• Place medicines in a first aid kit, out of the reach of children.

Burns

The projection of objects and/or liquids at high temperatures or everyday habits such as touching a hot iron, putting bare hands in the oven, picking up objects at high temperatures without gloves, and cooking food without a lid, among others, are often the cause of multiple burns, and on certain occasions, some of them can trigger a fire.

Recommended prevention measures

• Leave aside the rush when doing household chores.
• Use gloves to pick up hot utensils in the kitchen.
• Keep children away from the ceramic hob, electric plates, and gas burners.
• Do not smoke near curtains or other fabrics.
• Do not overload power strips.
• Take special care with pans on the fire.

Electrocution

It can occur when you directly touch live electrical elements without the necessary protection elements (differential switches or grounding sockets). It is common for the cause of an electrical accident to be a lack of caution.

Recommended prevention measures

• Contact a professional if you have any doubts or lack of knowledge when fixing electrical elements or installations that should only be handled by electricians.
• Do not connect electrical appliances near the bathtub or near any space with accumulated water, such as the sink.
• Take extreme caution when using electrical appliances, and do not use them barefoot or when wet.
• Disconnect the main switch to handle electrical material.
• Disconnect and unplug electrical appliances to clean them.
• Use special protection for children in electrical sockets.

What Can I Do If an Accident Occurs?

Even if you take all possible precautions, a problem can always occur, and you must prepare for it. Here are some recommendations for dealing with any accident at home:

• It is essential to have a first aid kit that includes bandages, hydrogen peroxide, and alcohol.
• Keep emergency numbers on hand, or place them in a visible place in the house, where even children can see them and call if necessary.
• If an accident occurs where blood is spilled, try to hire a service like biohazard cleanup new york to clean it up properly.

Conclusion

A seemingly safe home entails numerous risks that must be learned to recognize in order to avoid accidents of various causes: falls, blows, burns, wounds, poisoning, and so on. Adequate preparation helps you to discover possible dangers, a good structure of the home and a correct organization of work at home are guidelines to follow to prevent those domestic mishaps that, in many cases, may be fatal. If you follow the recommendations in this article, you will succeed in making your home a safer place.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional or safety expert for specific concerns related to accidents or injuries in the home.

Published by Iris S.