The Top 6 Accidents-Waiting-to-Happen in Your Home
by www.SixWise.com

Every year, nearly 20,000 people die and 21 million medical visits are needed due to home accidents in the United States, says the U.S. Home Safety Council.

Those most at risk are children and the elderly -- a recent report from Harvard Medical School found that the chance of dying from a home accident increases dramatically after the age of 65. In fact, people over the age of 75 are four times more likely to die from a home accident than those aged 65 to 74.

Of course, people of all ages can be hurt by an accident (you've likely got at least one home-accident story of your own by now). The irony is that most home accidents are the result of human error and could almost always have been prevented.

1. Cutting yourself with a knife.

We all use knives daily, and it's easy to become careless with their use. In the UK, for instance, 150 people stab themselves everyday while trying to open a jar or packaged meal with a knife. Keeping knives sharpened will make them less likely to slip (and you'll be less likely to cut yourself while sawing away at something with a dull knife).

2. Slamming fingers in doors/windows.

This can be especially dangerous for kids, whose tiny fingers could be crushed or even amputated if they get caught in a door, particularly the hinge side, or window.

In fact, a study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine found that in children aged 4 and younger, three out of four finger amputations resulted from fingers that were caught, jammed or crushed in an opening or closing door.

Adults, too, are at risk from carelessly slamming doors and windows. About 30,000 people in all are rushed to U.S. emergency rooms each year because they've amputated a finger, and one of the top two causes is getting fingers slammed in doors. That's why Sixwise.com highly recommends installing our durable foam Finger Guards on your doors, particularly on all doors that children may be opening and closing.

They're simple to install, as they grip to the side or top of just about any doorframe (we recommend installing them higher up, out of kids' reach), and they keep doors from slamming.

3. Falling down the stairs.

Here's a shocking fact: More people end up in U.S. emergency rooms because of fall-related injuries than from any other cause.

Falling can occur because a person is rushing, tired, upset, sick or simply not paying attention, and is a major risk for the elderly and small children. Open stairways represent a real hazard because the injuries sustained from falling that far down can be serious.

To reduce the risk of falling down the stairs, make sure you have adequate lighting throughout your home, especially at night, and use a cane or walker if you have trouble walking or balancing. Another option is to block off stairways, windows or other dangerous areas using The Gateway® To Go. It uses a patented, pressure mount system rated #1 by a leading consumer reporting organization to keep infants, the elderly or pets safely away from accident-prone areas.

4. Getting burned while cooking.

Burn injuries leave 60,000 people hospitalized each year in the United States, and over 5,000 people die from burn-related injuries.

Cooking is one of the most hazardous activities when it comes to burns, as a child could reach into a hot oven out of curiosity or pull down a pot of boiling water from a stovetop. It's extremely important to always supervise kids in the kitchen, and be sure to turn pot handles toward the inside of the stove (even adults can accidentally bump into a protruding pot handle, causing it to spill.)

Another often overlooked source of home burns is the barbecue grill. "From grills to barbecue pits, parents need to make sure their children avoid any area near an open flame," said Kim Davies, trauma manager at Children's Medical Center of Dallas. "This is especially important as you begin heating up a grill -- it's not hot enough for food, but it's hot enough to burn."

If you love to grill and have kids at home, the HearthGate™ barbecue and fireplace protection gate is an excellent solution: It keeps kids away from the grill and out of harm's way.

5. Falling out of windows.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, thousands of young children are killed or injured from falling out of windows every year. The elderly and pets are also at risk. Since keeping your windows closed is an unpleasant solution (especially during the summer months), be sure to always supervise children, including, and especially, when they have access to an open window, and consider using a window safeguard like the Window Wedge to control the height or width of your window openings.

6. Electrocution.

According to the National Institutes of Health, some 1,000 people die in the United States each year because of electric shock, and, surprisingly, many occur right in the home. Some common risks to look out for include extension cords (particularly old, worn varieties or those that could be picked up by children), electrical outlets (covering your outlets with the Sliding Decora Outlet Cover can help keep kids safe), electric appliances (particularly when they're touched with wet hands) and pools and hot tubs (from faulty underwater lighting or old electrical wiring).

Recommended Reading

How Many Insect Parts and Rodent Hairs are Allowed in Your Food? More Than You Think

The Toxic Chemicals Most Linked to Depression

Sources

Health and Safety Management Consultants

The Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia

Hand Safety