top of page

Some things to consider

Expert Tips: Common Home Hazards and How to Prevent Them

Home safety is a critical part of both real estate and everyday life. When you’re moving into a new house, the due diligence step allows you to have a home inspector look at your potential property and identify major hazards. This can save you from safety hazards like mold and water damage and prevent common household accidents.

Unfortunately, the place people call the safest place– our house–hides many hazards. You can make straightforward fixes in your home to ensure you make your best attempt at preventing home injuries. That’s why we asked the experts how to make your home a safer environment for you and your loved ones.

​

Kitchen

Expert Tips: Kitchen

One of the best ways for kitchen utensils to be stored is generally through the use of drawer locks available through different retailers. These locks require the deliberate pressing of a hidden lever arm for full opening, which prevents young children from gaining access to potentially dangerous utensils. For this to be fully effective, it is important to ensure that utensils are not left out when not in use, taken out of the dishwasher, and put into the safety lock drawers as soon as possible once clean.

You should also keep certain objects such as bowls, glasses, and other glass objects in a high cabinet far out of the reach of children. In short, it’s important to keep glass, metal, and other potentially harmful items either in a locked cabinet or somewhere out of a child’s reach.

-Kevin from Commercial Led Lights

​

Garage

Expert Tips: Garage

When it comes to lighting safety in the garage, there are a number of important factors to keep in mind.

Take Light Coverage Into Account: Make sure lights are appropriately placed to ensure there are no dark spots. A lighting plan can help to ensure your space will be evenly lit.

Color Temperature Matters: Soft color temperatures between 2700K-3500K can dull the vision to potential hazards on the ground. We typically recommend 4000K or 5000K (daylight) for a more crisp light. This will help everyone to avoid slipping on a skateboard or tennis ball that rolled out from the toy box. 

Picking The Right Wattage: When it comes to LED lights, higher wattage is not always better. If you go too high in wattage in a low ceiling (8′-16′) you can run into a spot light effect. This will have a similar impact as poor light coverage, with some areas looking much darker than those directly under the lights.

Use A Frosted Lens: Using the right lens helps to mitigate the sharp brightness that you typically get when looking in the general direction of the light. This can help the whole family to avoid flash blindness when coming inside on a dark night.

Consider how you use your garage: How you utilize your space can make a big difference in terms of how it should be lit. For example, a garage used for normal car and sports equipment storage is typically lit to about 20-foot candles whereas a garage used by a car junkie for at-home repairs might need to be lit to 50-60 foot candles. The higher the foot candles, the more lights you will need in the space to ensure golf clubs and wrenches are not being tripped over when bringing in the groceries.

-Cory from Led Lighting Supply 

​

General Safety

Expert Tips: General safety

Most Injuries can be prevented by limiting the environment. Always keep lighters, and sharp objects out of reach of children, store any other dangerous items in your home in a locking safe, or put away in an area that is not accessible to children. Wearing helmets when riding bicycles, rollerblading, or doing any other activity of that nature, also plays a crucial role in preventing very serious injuries. 

-Holly from Cal Pines Fire Department

  • My dad always told me to think of it as cooking – lay out your ingredients. Run through the project and make sure you have all the necessary supplies and tools. Being unprepared leads to improvisation – that’s where accidents and mistakes happen

  • Old shop teacher would say “Wear safety glasses for any project. You have 10 fingers; the math is less favorable with your eyes.”

  • I cannot stress this enough – CLEAN WHILE YOU WORK. Nothing worse than tripping on your own mess.

  • And finally, I’m a big advocate of safe lifting. Whether it be team lifting heavy items or safe lifting technique and practices.

-Devin Graves from RTA Outdoor Living

Household

Expert Tips: General Household

Ensure wiring used for appliances and household equipment is not damaged or frayed. Exposed wires can be dangerous to the user or bystander who may accidentally touch the wiring.

-Sakina Kamrudeen from Hazwoper Osha

​

There are many options available for household cleaners that are non-toxic. Look for products that are labeled as eco-friendly. These are products that are not environmentally harmful. For example, they may use plant-based materials instead of chemicals. And because the eco-friendly label is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, you know that the product doesn’t have hazardous ingredients. 

-Rebecca Bridges from Electricity Plans

bottom of page