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- Knowledgebase: Child Safety, Injury Prevention and Treatment
- Questions about child safety and injury prevention, as well as treatment for minor injuries.
- 28. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR HOUSE HAZARD-FREE - Top
- Issue: Sept, 1999
Better Homes and Gardens
HOPKINS, JOHNS
IF YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR HOUSE HAZARD-FREE, start with stairways and other places where people can fall.
Falls are far and away the most common cause of accidental death and serious injury, in the home, and they are a particular problem for the elderly.
"This easily results in a broken hip or wrist, which can lead to death, disability or mean that this person never returns to the degree of independence they had before," says safety expert Susan Baker, MPH, a professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
About a third of the 28,400 accidental deaths that occurred in U.S. homes in 1997 resulted from falls, according to National Safety Council figures that are the latest available. Baker says that each year 200,000 people older than 65 wind up in the hospital with a broken hip suffered in a fall.
If you want to reduce the risks, stairways are a good place to start. They should have sturdy handrails at the appropriate height--a minimum of 32 inches above the stair treads, with 36 inches a better choice--and stairs should be evenly spaced and of a consistent height, Baker says. They should also be well lighted and be free of toys and other things someone could trip over.
"Reducing fall injuries is such a difficult challenge because so many things contribute to them, and there are so many ways they occur," says Andrea Gielen, Sc.D., an associate professor in Johns Hopkins' School of Public Health. "For young children, we know that stairs can be a dangerous place. Safety gates should be used to block stairways for young children, and parents should not put youngsters in walkers with wheels."
One thing that can help mitigate the effects of a fall is to have something other than concrete at the base of the stairs. "What you land on can make a difference," Baker says. In one of her studies, she found that children who died after falling down stairs or out a window were typically the ones who landed on concrete.
She recommends putting some sort of padding at the bottom of cellar stairs if the floor is concrete. Planting hushes under windows instead of concrete can make a difference, as well. Children and windows can be a bad combination unless the windows are equipped with window guards or locks that keep the window from being opened wide enough for a child to fall through. Screens are designed to keep insects out but are not designed to keep children in. Keep furniture that children can climb on away from the windows. For fire safety, there should always be one window per room that can be exited easily.
Another window worry: Cords for draperies and blinds. They can be a hazard because children can be strangled by them. These cords should not be within a child's reach, from the floor, a crib or a sofa that the child can climb onto, Baker says.
Loose rugs are another big problem because they are easy to trip over. Use a non-slip mat under rugs.
Some household hazards can't be seen because they're in the air. Among those listed in a booklet entitled "Protect Your Child: Simple Solutions to a Safer Home," which was produced by the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Polio, the Consumer Federation of America and Lowe's Home Safety Council, are the following:
* Carbon monoxide accumulates when gas, oil, wood or charcoal doesn't burn completely, k is also present in a car's exhaust. Breathed in small amounts, it can make someone feel tired or even cause chest pain. In larger amounts, it can cause headaches, dizziness, flu-like symptoms and death. Install a carbon monoxide alarm to warn of dangerous levels of the gas.
* Paint that contains lead could be present in homes built before 1978. Children are at risk if they eat lead-paint chips or breathe the dust. State-certified lead experts can tell you if your paint contains lead. If it does but is not peeling, cracking or making dust, then leave it alone. If it is peeling, contact an experienced lead abatement contractor. Extensive lead paint removal is not recommended for the do-it-yourselfer.
While many hazards are in your home air, a few hidden hazards may lurk in your tap water.
Let's start with the water temperature. Young children and the elderly are at increased risk for scald burns if the temperature is set too high. Scald-proof devices that cut off water flow when the water exceeds a certain temperature can be put on tubs and showers. Safety experts also advise setting hot water heaters no higher than 120 degrees to reduce the chance of being scalded.
Water can also contain contaminants, including heavy metals such as lead, and even water-borne parasites like Cryptosporidium, which can cause diarrhea. It's a particular threat to people with weakened immune systems and the elderly. One outbreak in Milwaukee a few years ago sickened an estimated 400,000 people. The city water purification system reportedly failed to pick up indications of the parasite. A home water filtration system can remove many of the most common contaminants.
COPYRIGHT 1999 Meredith Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
- Updated: May 19, 2001
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- Knowledgebase: Child Safety, Injury Prevention and Treatment
James L Horwitz, MD
David C. Thomas, MD
Barbara Lindberg, PNP