Most people consider their homes as a place of comfort,
security and safety. Unfortunately the fact is that each year, more than 18,000
Americans die from accidental injuries that take place in their home. The most
common household injury related deaths are unintentional poisonings,
unintentional falls, and unintentional fire or burn.
Researchers have identified the major causes of most fires:
cooking, heating equipment, and smoking. They have also identified the groups
at highest risk of injuries from fires: very young children, older adults,
people with disabilities, and people who live in poverty. Additionally,
research has shown that residential smoke alarms, when functional, can prevent
50% to 80% of deaths by providing early warning of fires, which often occur at
night when people are sleeping.
According to the Center for Disease Control, there are
approximately 2 million poison exposures in the United States every year - 57
percent among children under the age of six. Tragically, approximately 30
children die every year due to accidental poisonings. The most common exposures
for children are ingestion of household products, such as cleaning substances,
medications, cosmetics, personal care products, foreign bodies and plants. The
majority of these accidental poisonings - a whopping 90 percent - occur in the
home.
Approximately 30% of older adults and 40% of those over age
80 report having fallen in the past year. Falls account for 29% of injury
deaths among adults ages 65 and older and result in 300,000 hip fractures
annually at a cost of more than $10 billion. Of the nearly 3 million emergency
doctor visits each year for falls among children and adolescents, more than 40%
occur among infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Annual direct medical costs
for falls among young children are estimated at $958 million.
It is a common misconception that injuries are “accidents”
that can’t be prevented. However there are steps that can be made to prevent
injuries from occurring in your home. Supervision is generally considered one
of the strongest yet least understood protective factors against many types of
home and community injuries. The key to preventing injuries is making simple
changes to your lifestyle - recognizing where most hazards are and how injuries
can occur when participating in different activities. Some key home safety tips
include:
· Remove clutter from stairs and walkways
· Install safety gates in homes with babies and toddlers
· Use Plexiglass guards on lofts, landings and balconies
· Have night lights in bathrooms and halls
· Install window guards
· Purchase products with child safety lids when available
· Store chemicals safety and out of the reach of children
· Post the poison control telephone number
· Have working smoke alarms and change the batteries once a year
· Have a fire extinguisher
· Perform monthly fire drills with your family
· Be vigilant of small toys and objects that can cause tripping or choking hazards.
Education is also a key in preventing home accidents and
injuries. Protect yourself and your family with our online safety training
courses such as Fire
Safety and Slips,
Trips and Falls. These courses can be applied to both home and work situations.
SafetySkills also offers an Off
the Job Safety training series with courses that start as low as $4.95
each. Titles in this series include Household
Chemical Safety, Halloween
Safety Tips and Lawn
Mower Safety.
For more information on SafetySkills and other course
offerings, please visit us at http://safetyskills.com
