Happy National Home Safety month! (Exciting right?) Well, it’s as good a time as any to just refresh your memory on some basic home safety tips. The AARP has 30 home safety tips that are surprising and worth knowing. For example, did you know that each year 65,000 barbecue grill fires cause as much as $27 million in property damage each year? Lesson: move your grill a little farther from the home.
Each day in June, the AARP will post one of the “30 for 30″ tips. Here are some:
- Did you know that most falls in homes happen in the bathroom, not on the stairs?
- Did you know that cooking-related fires are the leading cause of injuries among people 65 years of age and older? Avoid wearing loose-fitting clothing while cooking and use a timer to remind yourself to check food you have in the oven.
- Did you know that more people are injured using hand tools than power tools?
- Did you know that each year approximately 3,800 injuries and 34 deaths occur in U.S. homes due to scalding from excessively hot tap water? To help avoid this, adjust the temperature setting of your home hot water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, or consider installing temperature limiting faucets on bathtubs, showers, and sinks.
- Did you know that each year an average of 20,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated with garage doors?
- Did you know that many houses and apartments built before 1978 have paint that contains high lead levels and lead from paint, paint chips, and dust can pose serious health hazards if not take care of properly?
Photo by clarkbw.
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wow, I had no idea….
WOW that one about cooking fires and 65 year olds was a shocker! I never would have guessed! I am not surprised by the bathroom falls one though. I myself have almost busted out in the tub a few times while showering and am in the process of investing in some of those rubber grabber sticky things that you put on the tub floor!
Man all of those shocked me! The only one that did not shock me was the bathroom falls. I cannot tell you how many times I have almost fallen while taking a shower and I have pulled my back and knees several times keeping myself from falling in the shower! I have also had quite a few almosts while getting OUT of the shower onto the tile floor!
Here's a tip: If you don't have good balance, sit down when you put your pants on. I almost broke an arm one day when I fell over while trying to get my foot out of a pants leg.