How to Design Important Safety Features Around the Home

Home is a place where we spend much of our time, and sometimes, we can even go a few days without leaving it.

This can be particularly the case during the colder months of winter or if we live in rural areas.

While our homes should be a sanctity of comfort and safety, often if can be somewhere that provides us with our biggest threat.

According to the National Safety Council, over 178,400 injury-related and preventable deaths were caused in homes and communities in the USA in 2022.

HVAC systems, for example, are essential for comfort—but without proper maintenance, they can quietly introduce risks like carbon monoxide leaks or poor indoor air quality.

So, it begs the question – how safe is your place of residence?

Every home should protect you from the dangers of theft, damage, fire and issues that could otherwise be detrimental to your health.

So, for this reason, it is important to have a series of measures in place that can safeguard the wellbeing of you, your family and the contents and structure of your property.

Here are some of the ways you can do that.

Install Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Fire and gas leaks are threats that every household in the USA must take seriously.

Subsequently, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are essential safety devices that you must install in your home.

It is important to place smoke detectors in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of your home.

Moreover, carbon monoxide detectors should also be installed on every level, especially near bedrooms and fuel-burning appliances.

Make sure you test your detectors on a monthly basis and change batteries at least once a year.

To improve this safety aspect of your home, you should also consider interconnected detectors that sound an alarm throughout the entire property if one is triggered.

Safely Secure Hazardous Materials

Unfortunately, there are around 358,500 house fires every year in the USA, many of which result in fatalities. 

Sadly, some of these could have been prevented or more easily contained if suitable storage solutions, such as those that are designed to safely secure hazardous materials and substances, had been in put place.

These include flammable, bunded or Gas Cylinder Storage cabinets, all of which provide fantastic protection against the likes of paints, petrol, diesel, methanol, kerosene and solvents, which have the potential to cause havoc and considerable damage.

Fire Extinguishers and Sprinklers

If there is a fire in your home, you will want to have a series of measures in place to deal with it as quickly as possible.

Two of the most obvious ones are fire extinguishers, which should be highly visible and easy to get to in an emergency, and sprinklers which kick in automatically when it detects a certain level of heat or smoke.

There are several different types of fire alarms.

They, along with sprinklers, should be checked on a regular basis by a qualified professional to ensure they are in good working order and will be effective whenever required.

Evacuation Plan 

Along with fires, homes in the USA are prone to a series of other risks, including natural disasters and weather events that can put them in serious danger.

At these times, sometimes the best course of action is to evacuate the home as soon as possible.

Therefore, it is important to have an evacuation plan in place to help you do so as quickly as possible in an urgent situation.

In the case of fire, this plan should clearly identify which exits you should go to – and there should be at least two for every level of your home.

If possible, they should lead you to a safe place of refuge at least 100 meters from your property.

Additionally, to safeguard yourself from natural weather disasters like tornadoes, floods or storms, it is worth creating a safe space, such as a gale and stormproof room, that you can retreat to when needed. 

Home Security Measures 

According to the United States Department of Justice, the USA experiences over one million burglaries every year.

If you want to prevent yourself from being included in this statistic, it is crucial to take steps to protect yourself in your home.

Some of the things you can do include adding double-locks, chains, peepholes and dead lock bolts to all your external doors.

You should also consider installing CCTV, video doorbells, keypad entry, burglar alarms and motion sensor lights around your property, along with walls or fencing that will deter intruders from entering it.

Make Stairs More Secure

If you live with older people or young children, the stairs can be a problematic part of your home.

That is why it is a good idea to secure railings or a stairlift to help them navigate ascending or descending it more easily.

Additionally, putting in safety gates can be an effective way to prevent small children from hurting themselves.

But just make sure they are securely mounted at the top and bottom of the stairs and that the bars are a size where they wouldn’t get their head stuck in them.

First-Aid Kit 

According to the National Safety Council, an astonishing 53,500,000 Americans suffered a non-fatal injury at home that required a medical consultation, many of which happened in the kitchen.

Given this extraordinarily high number, every home should have a first aid kit in their home that can be easily accessed when an accident happens.

This kit should be comprehensive enough to include everything from painkillers and bandages to antiseptics and burn creams to cover a wide range of eventualities.

Final Thoughts

Creating a safe home environment involves thoughtful preparation and proactive measures.

By implementing essential safety features, you can better protect yourself, your loved ones, and your property from various risks, ensuring your home remains a secure haven for everyone.

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