Humans have a tendency to hurt themselves. Not on purpose, but we can sometimes be accident-prone, hurting ourselves in the process of our everyday lives. People sometimes trip and fall, sprain an ankle, cut themselves, and even suffer from falling objects or a hot pot lid. In many circumstances, some of these injuries can’t be avoided. Accidents have a tendency to just happen, so all that you can do is try to live as safe a life as possible. For homeowners, injuries are that much more common.
In houses across the United States of America, there’s no shortage of things that can cause injuries around the home. In 2018 alone 37,600,000 homeowners were injured in non-fatal medically consulted injuries. Maybe it’s a toy left on a stairway where people might walk without shoes. How about a leak in the kitchen sink which can create a spill situation, that can also cause a fall? A cabinet left open, or a stove you didn’t realize was hot? Home injuries are common and can leave many people in a world of hurt. The most common types of injuries that take place around the home are spills, falling objects, trips or falls, bruises, sprains, cuts, choking, poisoning, glass-related injuries, and drowning. What we’ll discuss below are the best ways to prevent the most common injuries for homeowners from happening.
1. Spills
One common cause of household injuries are spills or standing water. These can be caused by any number of things, including spilled liquids, water that has splashed out of a sink or bathtub, or even a leaky faucet. Whatever the cause, unless the liquid can be seen there’s a good chance that a homeowner is going to trip and fall.
To avoid a potential fall, it’s always a good idea to have leaky pipes, leaky kitchen or bathroom sinks, or leaky bathtubs repaired. This is just one great way to consider when it comes to how to avoid hurting yourself in the kitchen. There might be an opportunity during a kitchen renovation to see if such leaks might be taken care of by a licensed plumber. Maybe there’s a leaky sink near the washer in the basement which can create a spilled liquid that needs to be taken care of. Many times avoiding spills is as easy as trying your best to no drop any liquids on the floor. The bottom line is if you find ways to avoid spills from occurring in the first place, you’re that much closer to preventing injuries in your home.
2. Cuts
Throughout a homeowner’s household, there are countless opportunities for cutting yourself. These opportunities more often arise in the kitchen where there are a host of knives and sharp objects. The first thing that you want to do to prevent such injuries from happening is to place table knives or other sharp kitchen utensils on countertops out of reach of children. You can also childproof or baby proof kitchen drawers by using magnetic locks. This mechanism will not unlock unless you have a magnetic key.
Another way to avoid cuts in the kitchen would be to keep your knives sharp, as dull knives have a tendency to slip as you use them. You can also buy a knife block in which you can store your knives, and even buy plastic guards for those kitchen utensils which aren’t being used. The thing is that you don’t want such thoughts on how to avoid getting cut to occupy all of your time. You often have to deal with major things like how to plan multiple home improvement projects, or even getting ready for a big family event, like a birthday party, at your home. You also don’t want to have to receive stitches after getting cut by a carving knife in your home. It’s a good idea to minimize worry about a common household injury like getting cut by following the above advice.
3. Burns
Burns can happen throughout the house. For instance, let’s say your house is being renovated, and as a part of that, you have to remove the hot water heater. If you try to pick up the water heater and it hasn’t properly cooled there’s a chance that you can get burned. You also might find yourself getting burned while cooking food at the stove, or by accidentally picking up the birthday cake for the ’80s-themed party for your child with your bare hands. You don’t want your child’s birthday experience of a bounce house, a new video game present, and even silly disco dancing to be ruined by you needing a trip to the emergency room to get bandages applied.
To avoid having to run your burned appendage under cold water to help it heal, or to prevent a trip to the emergency room there are a few safety tips that should be followed. A great way to first avoid getting burned in your house is to keep pot handles turned inward towards the stovetop. This way you avoid possibly knocking them over and getting burned. Try wearing long sleeves and long pants when cooking. This will keep you safe from getting burned by food that might splash outside the pot or pan. Never pick up a pot lid without an oven mitt. Also, when attempting to handle hot items in the home, always let them cool off first.
4. Broken Glass
Sometimes when you are doing a remodel of your home or a renovation project, there’s a chance that you can injure yourself on any number of things. One of these things might include broken glass. Let’s say for instance that you are going through the process of a home improvement project, and you are adding a new room to your house. If for instance, you have to do a remodel of this part of the home and remove the glass from the room, there’s a good chance that you may be injured on the broken glass. The best way to avoid having this happen is to remove the broken glass as soon as you see it.
Also, the same advice should be followed even if a gigantic home renovation project isn’t taking place. Though getting harmed by utensils like kitchen knives is a bit more common, you’re kind of following the same advice to avoid getting cut in your home.
5. Drowning
Home accidents such as drowning tend to be a bit more common when it comes to children. Young children and babies should always be supervised when it comes to being around shallow water. It’s not a good idea to keep a child unattended around garden ponds, home pools, water features, and baths. Also, take into consideration pool safety suggestions for children if you decide to take on a home renovation project of adding a pool to your home. You want to make sure that your child can stay injury-free, and enjoy a long childhood of playing in bounce houses, enjoying video games, and celebrating many birthday parties in the years to come.
