Make Your Home Safer
Here is a Checklist
Your home is supposed to be a safe place where you can relax and unwind after a long day. Unfortunately, homes aren’t always as safe as we’d like them to be. There are several potential safety hazards that can exist in and around your home that you need to be aware of.
These can be dangerous to you, your family and even your home itself. In an effort to help you out, we have designed a short home safety checklist of four things you can do to make your home safer and give you more peace of mind.
Get a Security System
A security system is one of the first things you should have in place if you want to make your home safer. These can alert the authorities when a burglary attempt happens, and the alarm will minimize the damage if someone breaks in. Oftentimes, a security system can deter burglars altogether.
The system should have sensors on the sports, alarm window contacts, lights, and even cameras. Many modern systems allow you to remotely control the system, so you can also keep tabs on what is going on in and around your home.
Security systems are fairly affordable to purchase and install, and can provide an incredible service to help keep families safer. As a result, there is little reason not to have and use one.
Make it Look Like Someone is Always Home
While burglaries can happen at all times, most will attempt to enter a home when no one is home. They don’t want to deal with anyone and would rather get in and out before anyone can notice or catch them. As a result, you want to make it look like someone is always home, even when they aren’t.
This can deter burglars and other criminals from ever entering your home. You can do things like keep some lights on, have the lights or TV on a timer, and keep a car parked in the driveway. It is also a good idea to have a neighbor collect your mail and keep your front yard cleaned up so it doesn’t look like it has been neglected.
Inspect Electrical, Appliances and HVAC
While keeping your home safe from crime is important, crime isn’t the only safety hazard for your home. There are many other safety hazards like fires and electrical shocks, just to name a few. Many of these issues will come from appliances like the oven, the stove, the fridge, or others. Electrical sockets can also carry some risk.
You want to ensure there are no loose parts or connections on these appliances, and that you always use them responsibly. For example, if you leave the oven on and leave it alone, it only takes a few seconds for a fire to start or for someone to burn themselves.
In a similar vein, be sure to inspect your air conditioner, furnace and ventilation. Not only can these malfunction, but they can get clogged up with dust. This could mean the air you are breathing in throughout your home is far from clean and could be full of dust and debris. Having an expert to come out and inspect these and replace any filters or damaged parts should be something you consider doing at least once a year.
Keep High-Traffic Areas Clear
Another way to ensure your home is safer is by keeping high-traffic areas clear and free of debris. Trips and falls at home are quite common, in the home, especially amongst older adults. Not only are they painful, but they can lead to very debilitating injuries that can have lifelong consequences.
Be sure to clean up any toys, clothing, papers and any other items that might be clogging up walking lanes. Also, the stairs in your home should also be kept spotless to ensure no unfortunate falls occur.
While this can be a lot of work, especially if you have kids or pets that leave toys and items everywhere, it is a crucial part of maintaining a safe home.
Keeping your home safe is incredibly important and should not be taken lightly. We hope this checklist and the information inside of it has been able to help you maintain a safer home and provide you with some peace of mind.