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THE HOME SAFETY COUNCIL® ENCOURAGES FAMILIES TO MAKE A HOLIDAY HOME SAFETY LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE
As the holiday countdown begins, many families are busy planning menus for festive feasts and preparing their homes for holiday guests. In fact, a recent study by the national nonprofit Home Safety Council found that more than 40 percent of adults plan to host friends and relatives in their homes this winter season. The Home Safety Council is offering tips and advice to help families ensure safe and happy holiday visits.
“Opening our homes to holiday visitors is a wonderful way to show friends and family how much we care. Along with the pleasures of cooking meals and preparing a festive home environment, we’re also responsible for keeping our guests safe,” said Meri-K Appy, Home Safety Council president. “By taking a few simple safety steps before guests arrive, hosts can help ensure everyone’s holiday meals and visits are happy and injury-free.”
"Get a Taste" for Safety
According to the Home Safety Council’s new survey, nearly two-thirds of adults (65 percent) plan to cook holiday meals this winter season. While seasonal treats bring smiles to the table, they also serve up potential fire and burn injury risks. To keep accidents out of your kitchen this holiday season, the Home Safety Council suggests taking the following steps:
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Always stay in the kitchen while cooking on the range, especially when frying food. |
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Keep things that can burn, such as dishtowels, paper or plastic bags, and curtains at least three feet away from the range top. |
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Keep grease from building up on the range top, toaster oven and in the oven. |
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Before cooking, roll up sleeves and use oven mitts. Loose-fitting clothes can touch a hot burner and catch on fire. If clothes do catch fire, "Stop, Drop and Roll" by dropping immediately to the ground and rolling over and over or back and forth to put out the flames. Cool the burned area with cool water and seek medical attention for serious burns. |
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Always turn pot handles toward the back of the range to prevent small children from reaching and pulling down a hot pan. |
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Keep pans, hot beverages and trays that have just come out of the oven away from the edge of counters, so that children are not able to reach them. |
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Hot liquid and food burns often occur when children pull hanging tablecloths or placemats. Use table cloths and decorations with care.
Food cooked in a microwave can be dangerously hot. Remove the lids or other coverings from microwaved food carefully to prevent steam burns. Always test microwaved food for heat before giving it to children.
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Keep children and pets away from the range when anyone is cooking and keep a close eye on them at all times. |
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Electrical outlets in the kitchen should be protected by Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs). If you don't have them, hire an electrician to install these devices to protect electrical receptacles near water. |
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For safer water temperatures to prevent scalds from hot tap water, keep your hot water heater set at 120 degrees Fahrenheit or below. |
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Store knives and other sharp objects out of the reach of children. |
Don't Let Hazards Be an Uninvited Guest This Season
Whether relatives and friends stay for a short or an extended visit, it’s important for families to take simple steps to make their homes safe, especially for young children and older adults – the age groups most at risk for home injury.
The Home Safety Council recommends that hosts find and fix home hazards while they are preparing for the holidays. Once guests arrive, take time to review critical safety precautions and practices with them. The Home Safety Council offers the following advice:
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Check the lights over all stairways, hallways, porches and entries to ensure all bulbs are working and are bright enough to illuminate the entire area below. Stick to the maximum safe wattage, which is printed inside the fixture.
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If tubs and showers don’t already have non-stick strips or mats in them, affix them now. Put sturdy grab-bars inside the bath and shower area – new models are attractive and easier to install. Place nightlights inside bathrooms and in the hallways leading to them. |
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If your guests will include toddlers, purchase safety gates and place them at the tops and bottoms of stairways.
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If you have an attached garage and/or fuel-burning heat or appliances, your home should have a carbon monoxide (CO) detector installed to protect sleeping areas.
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Post the local and national poison control hotline number, as well as other local emergency numbers, near every telephone. The National Poison Control Hotline is 1-800-222-1222.
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To keep curious children safe, make sure all matches and lighters, medications, household cleaners, toiletries and other dangerous products are locked in a cabinet. Keep products in original containers with child-proof closures in tact. Remember to keep purses, backpacks and luggage out of children's reach too. |
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Every home must have working smoke alarms on each level and protecting all the places people will be sleeping. Test every smoke alarm and replace any dead or missing batteries. If your alarms are ten years old or more, replace them. |
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When guests arrive, walk through your home fire escape plan with them, pointing out primary and secondary exits and the outside meeting place. |
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Prevent scalds by turning your hot water heater temperature to 120°F or less.
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When toddlers are visiting, use toilet seat locks to prevent drowning. Be aware that buckets, spas, pools/ponds, tubs and all standing water are a serious drowning risk for very young children. |
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Make guest rooms safe as well as welcoming. Place a nightlight inside each room and the hallway outside it. Provide each guest with a working flashlight. If possible, place a telephone in each guest room as well.
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