The Next Fix

If your home has a staircase and you have children, it is very important that you set up some staircase safety precautions to prevent any serious accidents from occurring. Whether you have a small staircase with only a few steps or a large staircase with many steps, falling down the stairs can cause serious bodily injury as well as death in some cases, and you want to prevent both of these from happening.

Make sure that you have handrails installed on both sides of the staircase, and make sure that the handrails are securely attached on both sides of the staircase. You should have handrails securely installed even if your staircase is just a small one with only a few steps. Handrails provide a person something sturdy to hold onto when they are climbing up and down the stairs so they won’t trip or lose their balance and fall. Handrails are especially helpful in assisting someone who has an unsteady gait or physical disability in going up and down stairs.

If your staircase is carpeted then you should make sure that the carpet is securely tacked to the stairs. This will prevent the carpet from shifting or bunching up under a person’s feet causing them to stumble or lose their balance and fall. Check the carpeting on your staircase once or twice a year to make sure that none of the tacks have come loose or fallen out leaving the carpet loose. Replace any tacks that have come loose or fallen out to keep the carpet securely in place.

If your staircase is hardwood then you need to place non slip carpet pads or a carpet runner on the staircase to try and prevent anyone from slipping and falling down the stairs. Hardwood staircases are beautiful but can also be very dangerous for small children and adults, whether they have a physical disability or not. Hardwood floors and staircases can be very slippery especially if you are only wearing socks on your feet. Hardwood floors and staircases that have recently been polished and waxed are even more dangerous, and precautions need to be taken.

Non slip carpet pads are easy to place and you can find them in a variety of colors and patterns to make them blend with the rest of the décor in your home. All you do to place non slip carpet pads is peel off the thin backing to reveal the adhesive and place them evenly on each stair.

Placing a carpet runner is also very easy to do. If you choose to place a carpet runner down the middle of the staircase all you have to do is make sure that the carpet runner is held securely in place with carpet tacks. Maintaining the carpet runner is much the same as maintaining a carpeted staircase.

Please remember to practice safety if you have any kind of staircase in order to keep your friends and family safe from falling.

If you have a resident or frequent guest that has low vision, install glow-in-the-dark stair nosing on your staircase; it is an efficient way to help guide individuals with sight problems on the stairs and ensure they see where they are going.

The summer months bring scorching heat waves that can make life miserable for you and your children, especially if you are not fortunate enough to have central air or air conditioning in your home.  Maybe some of you have decided that this year you will add a swimming pool to your backyard rather than spending an enormous amount of money frequenting the local public swimming pool with your family.  Maybe some of you have decided that adding a swimming pool would be great entertainment for family get-togethers or neighborhood cookouts.

There are a number of things to consider when you decide to put up a swimming pool in your backyard.  You will need to decide on what size of pool you will be putting up based on the size of your backyard.  You don’t want to choose a pool that will take up the entire yard and leave no room for you and your children to play.  Another very important thing to do before putting up a swimming pool is to check with your home insurance agent.  Some home insurance companies will not insure a swimming pool until certain safety conditions are met, and some insurance companies will charge you an additional fee to insure your swimming pool.

It would be a very good idea to place a fence or gate around your swimming pool even if your insurance company does not require it.  Putting a fence or gate around the pool will help keep neighborhood children from trying to use your swimming pool unsupervised or while you are away from home.  A fence or gate will also help deter your own children from getting too close to the pool and inevitably falling in and drowning when you aren’t watching them.

If your swimming pool comes with a ladder, it would be a good idea to remove the ladder from the side of the pool while the pool is not being used.  Children are full of curiosity and could climb the ladder to stick their hands in the water, slip, and fall into the pool.  If the ladder has been removed then the children will be less likely to be able to reach the water.

Another safety precaution would be to invest in a very sturdy and durable swimming pool cover.  This can protect the pool from being filled with leaves or other debris when the pool is not being used as well as protect your children from slipping and falling into the swimming pool when no one is watching.

A backyard swimming pool can be a good source of entertainment, a way to beat the scorching heat, and a good way to relax, but a swimming pool can also be dangerous if proper safety measures aren’t taken.  So, have fun but be safe.