HOME SAFETY 

In 1986, more than 3 million persons were injured and 20,500 persons died in the United States as a result of accidents that occurred in the home.

    Home should be the safest place of all, but carelessness makes it one of the most dangerous.

    Accidents can happen when people use tables and chairs as ladders, misuse kitchen appliances, and leave objects on stairways that others can trip over.
Common hazards such as these cause the greatest number of accidents in the home.
Statistics of 1986 indicates the following distribution of home accidents, as percentage of total fatal cases:
 
 

         FALLS - are the largest single cause of home accidents.

Sturdy window screens and gates at the top of stairs will protect small children against falls from windows and down stairs.

Every staircase should have a strong handrail and should be well lighted.

Small rugs on polished floors should have a rubber backing or be fastened down to keep them from sliding.

A rubber mat or nonskid decals and a hand grip will help prevent slipping in the bathtub. Many kitchen falls can be prevented by smoothing warped linoleum and by wiping up spilled water and grease.

BURNS most occur in the home, and burns and scalds are among the most common injuries to children.

Many burns result from careless use of kitchen equipment.
Handles of pans should be turned away from the edge of the stove, particularly if small children are present.
When cooking with deep fat, stand back from the stove to avoid spattering grease.

Careless smoking accounts for about 25 percent of the fires that occur in one- and two-family homes and about 30 percent of the fires that occur in apartments.
For early detection, smoke and fire detectors should be installed in all buildings.

Some tips for fire protection:

• If clothes catch fire, stop, drop, and roll in order to smother the flames.
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• Make frequent preventive maintenance in the electrical systems and avoid overload them with additional charges.
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• Know two ways out of every room, and make sure that all family members, and guests know them too.
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• Have home fire drills so that family members will know what to do in case of fire.

Poisoning, choking, and drowning.
Prescription, over-the-counter, and other drugs are the leading causes of death from poisoning among young adults.
Alcohol is the leading liquid poison.
Prescription and over-the-counter drugs should be used only as advised by a health care professional.

The amperage of the electrical current is one of the factors that makes electricity hazardous to the life.

At  0.1 mAmperes ( 10000 times smaller than one ampere), the human body has a mild sensation of the electrical current.

The threshold limit for life is around 9mA, at 20 mA there is a potential risk of death and at 80mA the heart starts to fail.

Some amperage of house appliances: light bulb 100 Watts 800mA, micro wave 10,000 mA, a small fan 1500mA.

The use of blind plugs in the wall outlets is a effective way to prevent kids to touch metal parts of electrical circuits.

Chewing food carefully and thoroughly, as well as knowing how to assist others when they are choking, helps prevent death from choking.

Drowning deaths occur primarily among infants and the elderly; such persons should not be left unattended in swimming pools or bathtubs.
 

© 1997