Injury Prevention Topics of Interest
Home Safety & Injury Prevention

Parent's Safety Checklist

• Install working smoke detectors on each floor and in the basement.
• Install cabron monoxide detectors with audible alarms near sleeping areas.
• Check furnaces and fireplace flues with each seasonal change.
• Place fire extinguishers in all areas with open flames.
• Set the temperature of your hot water heater at 120 degrees or lower. Check with your management if you have no control.
• When cooking, keep handles on cookware turned inward.
• If you use a space heater, make sure it is unobstructed, and not used in the bedroom or nursery.
• Keep matches and lighters out of reach of children.
• Store household cleaners only in the original containers and out of reach of children.
• Use cabinet latches.
• Store chemicals our of reach of children.
• Many plants are toxic. Check with local poison control.
• Install child-proof latches on cabinets.
• Equip windows with stops to maintain small openings.
• No window opening should be wider than four inches.
• Make sure all rugs are slip proof.
• Do not use infant walkers with wheels. Think bouncers!
• Keep cribs and beds of small children away from windows.
• Cribs should have bars no more than 2-3/8 inches apart so that children should not be able to entrap their heads.
• Crib mattresses should be firm and snug fitting.
• Do not leave small children unattended in a tub or near any body of water.
• Make sure someone in your home knows C.P.R.
• Choose toy chests carefully. Heavy lids can fall and injure or trap a child.
• Keep hair dryer, curling irons and other electric appliances away from sinks, bathtubs and toilets.
• Use covers for electrical plugs less than three feet from the floor.
• Keep curling irons out of reach of small children.
• Keep power tools, yard tools and lawn mowers out of reach of small children.
• Automatic garage doors should have a mechanism to automatically re-open when striking an obstruction.
• Do not use latex balloons around small children.

Home Safety & Injury Prevention Links

Did you know?

Children living in poverty have a higher rate of injury than children of more substantial means, (Durkin 1994).

Head injuries incurred while riding a bike result in two-thirds of hospital admissions and more than 60 percent of the bicycling deaths.

Injury is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for children and young adults living in the United States.