Safety Guide: Ensuring Summer and Home Safety Part 3

By Renee Martinez

Keeping your home safe may seem daunting. From the looks of this article it could be a full-time job to have a safe home! Really, as with everything, being an involved, hands-on parent is a big part of safety. Read the details below to learn more.

MUST-HAVE SAFETY EQUIPMENT:

• Working smoke detectors.
• Consumer Product Safety Commission also recommends carbon monoxide detectors to protect against poisoning from this colorless, odorless gas (often caused from poorly working furnaces and stoves).
• Prevent falls by placing gates across stairways and block openings in balconies and decks.
• Use bumpers on sharp-edged furniture.
• Specially-designed window locks or window guards prevent opening a window far enough that a child could fall out.  Don’t install an unmovable guard on a window that might also serve as a fire escape route.
• Cushion falls on the playground with sand, wood chips, sawdust or mulch.
• More children drown in toilets, tubs, or a bucket with just a few inches of water than people realize, not just in pools. Buy special toilet latches to prevent toddlers from opening the lids.
• Never leave your young child unsupervised in the tub, even if he is in a bath seat he could still slip under the water.
• Household cleaners, medicines, cosmetics and vitamins should be stored out of children’s reach.
• Install child locks on cabinets and drawers that contain hazards such as poisonous materials or sharp utensils.
• Keep window blind and drapery cords out of reach. You can buy cord shorteners to make it easier to prevent injury.
• Lock any guns unloaded and away from reach. Accessible with a key by adults only.
• Install safety devices on stationary bikes, but it’s best to keep children away from exercise equipment.

Check the Yellow Pages to see if your community has professional child-proofers. They will inspect your home, sell you what you need and even install it.

BARBECUE SAFETY

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)  has released a few common-sense safety tips you should keep in mind when using gas or charcoal grills.

Gas Grill Safety Tips: Liquid petroleum (LP) gas or propane, used in gas grills, is highly flammable.  Each year numerous people are injured as a result of fires and explosions. Much of this is due to grills that have been left unchecked for a period of time, or just after refilling and reattaching the gas container. Here’s a list of safety checks to perform:

1. Use a pipe cleaner or wire to clear / check the tubes into the burner for any blockage from insects, spiders, or food grease.
2. Check grill hoses for cracking, brittleness, holes, and leaks or sharp bends.
3. Move gas hoses as far away as possible from hot surfaces and dripping hot grease. If you can’t move the hoses, install a heat shield to protect them.
4. Because they can leak gas, replace scratched or nicked connectors.
5. Check for gas leaks, following the manufacturer’s instructions, if you smell gas or when you reconnect or detect a leak, immediately turn off the gas and keep it off until the leak is fixed.
6. Keep lighted cigarettes, matches, or open flames away from a leaking grill.
7. Never use a grill indoors or in a garage, breezeway, carport, porch, or under a surface that can catch fire.
8. Use the grill at least 10 feet away from your house or any building.
9. Do not attempt to repair the tank valve or the appliance yourself. Contact a repair person.
10. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions that accompany the grill.
11. Use caution when storing LP gas containers.
12. Always keep containers upright.
13. Never store a spare gas container under or near the grill or indoors.
14. Never store or use flammable liquids, like gasoline, near the grill.
15. You should transport the container in a secure, upright position. Never keep a filled container in a hot car or car trunk as the heat will cause the gas pressure to increase, which may open the relief valve and allow gas to escape.
16. Grills manufactured after October 1, 1995, are required to have three additional safety features to eliminate leak hazards.  If you’re looking to purchase a grill, look for one with extra safety features.

Charcoal Grill Safety Tips: Charcoal produces carbon monoxide (CO) when it is burned. CO is a colorless, odorless gas that can accumulate to toxic levels in closed environments. Each year about people die or are injured as a result of CO fumes from charcoal grills and hibachis used inside. Follow these safety tips:

1. Never burn charcoal inside, even if ventilation is provided.
2. Do not store the grill indoors with freshly used coals.

About the Author:  Renee Martinez consults and speaks professionally on social media marketing, integrated marketing communications, public relations and branding. She is the president of Ruby Marketing Communications (www.rubymarcom.com), a boutique marketing communications company that specializes in providing branding, social media strategy and integration, and creative services. Her blog (www.lisac95.sg-host.com), provides resources on everything marketing and social media for her active audience. 

Renee has contributed as a featured monthly columnist in the monthly jewelry industry publication, JCK on matters related to internet marketing as well as in InStore Magazine as a featured blogger where she writes about developing effective marketing strategies for the jewelry industry using social media. She is the founder of: Social Media Biz Summit (www.socialmediabizsummit.com), the first large-scale SM conference to come to Buffalo, NY; #jewelrychat, a weekly twitter chat for the jewelry industry and www.RaisingBoysWorld.com. Renee teaches social marketing courses at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY for the business school as well as offers small group social media marketing training and educational seminars for businesses in Western New York and beyond.
Renee has dabbled in internet marketing arena since the early 90′s and is not ashamed to call herself a “marketing geek”. From chatting in AOL, “sharing” music on Napster, and teaching HTML classes before it was considered “cool” to developing comprehensive social media strategies, effective public relations campaigns and managing online communities (most recently Chevy Girls Buffalo).
She enjoys being able to help people find their voice online and to create buzz about their product or service that will give them the results they desire. 

Renee can be found on Twitter (@reneemmartinez) and Facebook (http:/www.facebook.com/RubyMarCom).