Housing and Home Safety

Top 10 Home Safety Tips

Install smoke alarms on every level of your home and outside every sleeping area. Test them monthly. If your smoke alarms are ten years old or more, replace them. If you build or remodel your home, install fire sprinklers.
Develop a fire escape plan for your family: Point out two exits from each room, pick a meeting spot outside, and hold a fire drill at least twice a year.
Always stay in the kitchen while food is cooking on the stove.
Keep all stairways, paths, and walkways well lit. Use railings.
Install grab bars in bath and shower stalls, and use a non-slip mat or adhesive safety strips inside bathtubs and showers.
Post the National Poison Control Hotline number (1-800-222-1212) and other emergency numbers next to every phone in your home.
Install child locks on all cabinets used to store dangerous items such as poisons, matches, and lighters. Install carbon monoxide alarms.
Keep your water heater setting at 120°F or less.
Install four-sided pool fencing with self-locking and self-closing gates. Fencing should completely isolate the pool from the home and be at least five feet high.
Constantly supervise children in or near bodies of water such as pools, ponds, bathtubs, toilets, and buckets.