We only have to fall once, touch an electrical wire once, use a power tool improperly once or use the gas grill the wrong way once to spend the rest of our life in pain. Sadly, nearly 50,000 homeowners die unintentionally every year from hazards that are both hidden and obvious. Millions more suffer disabling injuries every year. In fact you are ten times more likely to die at home than you are at work. The old adage "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" when it comes to home safety cannot be overstated.
The average homeowner expects home safety to be delivered through the safety features of the products they purchase and engineering design of the home-building and fire codes. However, more than 75% of all injuries are the result of our behavior-the decision we make to use a chair for instance, rather than a ladder to change a light bulb. Chairs are designed for sitting on not standing on and using the right tool for the job is one of the simple ways to prevent an injury. To get a sense of our inability to recognize hazards and make good decisions just watch an episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos".
Falls, electrocution, fire, chemical exposure and other hazards are all present in the home. Those homeowners that die every year likely did not get up at the start of the day thinking about how unsafe their home is and the actions they need to take to make it safer. To combat the hazards that a home presents we must work on improving our safety mindset which consists of our knowledge and attitude. Once our mindset is improved good behavior will follow. We need to seek-out resources to help improve our hazard recognition skills and then routinely and proactively inspect our home to keep the hazards in-check. To really hit safety out of the park the entire family must be part of the solution. Kids and adults need to be committed to practicing safety and watching-out for each other. If the old adage that "safety is just common sense" were true, then maybe so many homeowners wouldn't die every year.
One of the easiest ways to start to practice safety at home is to apply our workplace safety knowledge away from work. Nearly every employer delivers some form of safety message whether it is about disaster preparedness, first aid, fire drills or other specific hazards. In fact global companies such as DuPont and Owens Corning have very active off-the-job safety programs. These programs demonstrate the value of the employee by caring about their wellbeing, and that of their family, away from work. The goal is to develop safety awareness into everything that we do whether it's driving, playing or living in our home. Unfortunately it only takes one lapse of judgment to find ourselves having a really bad day.
"Preventing Home Accidents", the book, educates the homeowner on how to take charge and ownership of practicing safety in their home. Build your safety knowledge by learning hazard recognition skills and using checklists for improving your home's safety condition. For more information about home safety, the book and to order go to:http://www.danshomesafety.com/thebook.html
By Dan Hannan
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