A lot of things can go wrong in your own home, but a lot of those can be avoided with some simple preventative measures. With a little preparation you can avoid the worst effects of fires, floods and falling around the home. Sometimes it takes a little care while doing tasks, sometimes it takes a piece of equipment to help you and sometimes it takes a little maintenance of the home.
If you’re worried about hazards around the home, take a look at our guide to preventing hazards.
Falling
Falling isn’t just a matter for the kids to worry about when they’re running around in circles. One in five older adults have earned a broken bone or head injury from a fall, and it’s very common. If you have someone older in the home, cluttered floors, wet floors, slippery stairs, and a lack of anything to hold onto while moving around can cause a nasty break.
Stabilize your staircases with solid reliable handrails, good lighting, and safety gates for the kids. You can also add some anti-slip tape to your steps and keep the steps clear. Put the toys and laundry basket away.
But the staircase isn’t the only danger zone. A lot of adults have a slip in the bath, especially when using that deep conditioning hair mask, so if you have someone older in the house they could do with a handrail on the bathroom wall, or even a step-in bath.
Flooding
Avoiding flooding comes down to preventative measures. Take a look around your home, specifically the basement and attic and look for any water stains or streaks that might indicate a leak.
You can also look for leaks with a pressure wash to your roof. Hiring a professional to clean the roof will uncover any loose tiles or gaps in the roofing that will need to be patched. You can also pressure wash the gutters, which usually need a more forceful approach to dislodge the birds and rodents that set up their nests in the gutters, but it will also ensure that the gutters are clear enough to allow water to flow away from the building.
Other Hazards
If you’re worried about any damage to the structure of your home, you can look into hazard insurance. You can gain hazard insurance as a part of your homeowners insurance policy. It won’t cover every hazard that can occur in the home, but the policy from Lemonade will cover flooding, as well as earthquakes, sinkholes, vandalism, wildfires, explosions, and burst pipes.
Fires
There are a lot of things in the home that can cause a fire. You can lessen the chances of this by going around the home and checking that nothing sets a spark going. Clear branches from power lines, don’t leave the stove unattended, and clean out your drier twice a year.
Don’t leave clothes to dry on space heaters and don’t have them going while you’re asleep. Make sure your fire alarm is functional, check it once a month, and teach your family members to use a fire extinguisher.
As for wildfires, there are some preventative measures you can take to lessen the chances of your home being affected or lessen the damage to your home. Keep a supply kit and an emergency plan, should you be faced with the idea of nearby wildfires. Clean out your chimney and gutters and rake up any dry leaves so that a spark doesn’t lead to something bigger and keep flammable materials in safety cans away from the base of the building. And leave when authorities suggest it.
Burns
And tying into the idea of fires, there is a lot you can do to prevent burns. A lot of the advice out there is directed at keeping children safe from burns, but adults make mistakes too. It’s all about being careful of hot items and areas. For example, keep the handles of your pots on the stove turned inwards so that you can’t accidentally knock them over, or a curious hand doesn’t grab it and block access to the fireplace so that no one gets too close.
