General Home Safety

Every year some 2.8 million people in the UK find themselves visiting the A & E department because of an accident at home. About the same number visit their own GP for treatment. Though you probably wouldn’t realise it from the media, more accidental deaths occur in the home than on the road – about 3000 a year. If you are less mobile, less dextrous, less acute of vision or hearing, you are more likely to have an accident, so it makes sense to check that your home doesn’t present unnecessary hazards.

Do please send us an email if you have any home safety questions that aren’t answered here, and we will be pleased to help.

Here are some “FAQs” of the home safety world, the usual suspects implicated in accidents around the home – a checklist for you to give your home a safety service!

• Carbon monoxide
• Gas and smoke
• Lighting
• Obstacles and falls
• Fabric fires
• Electrical fires
• Electric blankets
• Calling help

1) Carbon monoxide

• Carbon monoxide (CO) is a poisonous gas created by heaters that burn fossil fuels – gas, coal, wood or oil. It is odourless and colourless, and when heating systems are working properly, with good ventilation,any CO is drawn safely out of the building. But if the heater is not working correctly, if the chimney or flue is blocked, or the room is not adequately ventilated, CO can build up inside, with potentially fatal results.

• Make sure that your heating system is in good repair; have it serviced annually, and any flues and chimneys swept.

• In your enthusiasm to stop draughts, don’t leave yourself with no ventilation! Never block up air vents.

• Gas flames will burn yellow or orange instead of blue, if there is carbon monoxide present, and coal or wood fires may be difficult to light and burn slowly.

• Have a carbon monoxide detector fitted – they are not expensive and could save your life. Make sure that you test the detector regularly and replace batteries when required.

• Symptoms of CO poisoning are: drowsiness, nausea, headache, chest pain, giddiness, stomach pains. If you have these, stop using the heaters until you can have them checked, and consult your GP. A small amount of carbon monoxide in your home could be causing you long-term health problems.

 
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2) Gas and smoke

• If you are elderly, disabled, chronically sick, visually or hearing impaired, you can join the Priority Service Register run by gas and electricity suppliers.

You will then be able to have a free annual gas safety check, to ensure that your appliances are working properly and that they are not giving out a harmful level of carbon monoxide (see above).

• If you smell gas, there may be a gas leak in your home. This is what you should do:

Phone the Transco Gas Emergency line – 0800 111 999 – it’s a free number and available 24 hours a day.
Don’t turn any light switches on or off.
Don’t use matches, candles or any other naked flame – and don’t smoke.
Turn off the gas supply at your meter.
Open doors and windows to clear the gas.
Check gas appliances to see whether any have been turned on without the gas being lit.
Keep people away from the area.

• Smoke can also be a killer, particularly when you are asleep, so it is worth fitting a smoke detector, to give warning of fires. Make sure that it is fitted in a suitable place, and that you test it regularly and replace batteries when necessary. You can obtain flashing alarms and ones that vibrate under the pillow, if you aren’t able to hear a standard alarm. These are more expensive, though.

• You can read more about fire risks in our kitchen safety section (that’s where most domestic fires start). There is also a section on fabric fires here.

 
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3) Lighting

• Eye sight deteriorates with age, and you need better light levels to see clearly. Try to have the same brightness in each room, so that your eyes don’t have to keep adjusting from gloom to dazzle!

• It is particularly important to have good lighting on staircases, and you should be able to turn the light on and off at both ends.

• Low energy light bulbs are more economical to run and last much longer than conventional ones, so you won’t have to change them so often. They cost more to buy initially, though.

• There are safety nightlights available that plug into an electric socket and give a comforting glow without burning up lots of electricity – you can see more details in our safety products section.

 
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4) Obstacles and falls

Around 1500 people over 65 die every year in the UK as a result of a fall in their home.

• Make sure that the way you arrange your furniture and possessions makes it easy for you to move around your home. Be especially careful about where you put low items that you may trip over.

• Trailing electric and phone wires can also be hazardous – try to connect appliances to a socket nearby. If trailing wires are unavoidable, arrange them as far out of the way as possible and tape them down with strong parcel tape or something similar.

• Keep staircases and passageways clear, and never place a loose rug at the top of the stairs. Be sure that you can get to your mains water, gas and electricity supply points easily in an emergency.

• A grab rail fitted near steps will give welcome support. You can buy newel rails to fit on the pillar of your bannisters at the top and bottom of staircases, for extra security.

• Try to organise your storage so that you can reach items you use regularly without having to climb. Don’t be tempted to balance on chairs or boxes if you do need to reach something high – use a proper step ladder with non-slip steps, or wait until someone else can help.

We have a whole section dedicated to fall prevention, including lots of detail about avoiding falls, and what to do if you or someone you care for does have a fall.

 
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5) Fabric fires

Over four-fifths of the fatalities caused by burning clothes occur in people over 60 – as we get older, we are less able to recover from burn injuries, so the results can be more serious. As flame-retardant fabrics have become the norm, it is easy to be complacent about the risks – but it isn’t worth taking chances…

• Don’t sit too close to an open fire. Over time, the heat can become intense enough to ignite your clothing, particularly dangerous if you have dozed off.

• Watch out for trailing sleeves, scarves, dressing gowns and skirts – if you brush past candles, an open fire or gas cooker flame, they can catch fire surprisingly quickly.

• Use a fire guard to prevent sparks from jumping out onto carpet or clothes.

• Be careful with matches and cigarettes – don’t smoke if you’re feeling at all sleepy – and especially not in bed!

• Don’t leave candles, nightlights and other open flames unattended.

• Don’t dry clothes by draping them over a heater – better to put them on a drying frame a little way away from the stove.

If the worst happens, and your clothes catch fire – this is what to do:

• Don’t run around – you’ll make the flames burn faster.

• Lie down – it won’t be so easy for the fire to spread, and you’ll reduce the risk of flames reaching your head.

• You want to deprive the flames of the oxygen they need to keep going, so smother them with a heavy coat or blanket. Roll around in the smothering blanket, and this will also help to extinguish the flames.

 
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6) Electrical fires

Electricity is a major cause of accidental fires in the home – over 20,000 each year. It is often human error, rather than faulty equipment to blame, so try and get into good habits.

• Unplug electrical equipment when you aren’t using it – particularly things that get hot, like irons and curling tongs.

• E-cigarettes have been the cause of a number of fires. To keep safe, only use the charger supplied with it or recommended by the manufacturer – don’t mix and match. Don’t leave the device charging overnight or when you are out, and don’t leave it on or near flammable materials while it is charging.

• Check electrical wires, plugs and sockets regularly, and if they are showing signs of damage, stop using them until you can get them checked out by an electrician.

• Don’t cover air vents on equipment like heaters, microwave ovens, etc

• Don’t put electric heaters near curtains, or dry clothes over them

• Make sure you aren’t using too bright a bulb for your lampshade or light fitting – it might cause it to melt or burn.

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Our homes are gradually acquiring more and more electrical gizmos, without necessarily having more sockets to plug them in. This means we are more likely to risk overloading sockets, causing them to overheat and possibly start a fire.

The rule for electrical sockets is: no more than 13 amps per socket.

Choose a bar adapter with a lead, rather than a block adapter, if you do need to plug more than one item into a socket.

Check out the load on your extension lead

It’s not always easy to know whether the appliances you are plugging in amount to an overload. Use the socket calculator here to be sure you’re not risking a fire!

The Socket Calculator has been brought to you by Electrical Safety First (external link will open in a new browser tab or window)

If you can smell burning, but you can’t see where it is, call the Fire Service. They have thermal imaging equipment that can identify the source.

NEVER throw water on an electrical fire, you may electrocute yourself. If you can do so safely, turn off the electricity; leave the house and call 999 for the fire service immediately.

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7) Electric blankets

Electric blankets get a home safety section to themselves, because they account for more than 5000 fires a year in Britain.

We all like to keep warm in bed, especially on those bitterly cold winter nights, and an electric blanket is a practical and convenient way of warming those icy sheets. It just pays to be aware of the risks!

• 99% of electric blanket fires involve blankets that are 10 year old or more. If yours is elderly, replace it – or at least have it checked. Many local councils and/or fire services will do this free.

You can check yourself that it isn’t displaying any of these tell-tale signs:

• Signs of wear or fraying on the fabric.
• Any scorch marks anywhere.
• Worn or damaged flex.
• Loose connections at the plug or control.
• Damaged or displaced heating wires. You can check this by holding the blanket up to the light. The wires should be evenly spaced and not touching anywhere.
• A buzzing noise or hot smell when the blanket is turned on.
• The connector between the flex and the blanket is damaged or gets very hot.
• Don’t buy a second hand blanket – it may not be safe.

Sensible use of an electric blanket:

• Always follow the instructions that came with the blanket.
• Check that the electric flex is hanging freely by the side of the bed, not tucked into the bedding.
• Keep the blanket flat. Tie it in place, so that it doesn’t slip and crease as you move around in bed.
• Turn it off before you get into bed, unless it is the sort that can be used through the night.
• If you have an adjustable bed, be extra careful that the blanket or flex don’t get trapped between the moving parts.
• Never plug an electric blanket into a light fitting or into an adaptor or multi-plug with another appliance.
• Don’t use it if it is wet or dirty – and don’t turn it on to dry it out!
• Don’t use a hot water bottle with your electric blanket.
• If you don’t want to keep the blanket tied on the bed during the summer, you can store it flat on a spare bed, or loosely rolled – rather than folded – in a dry place. Don’t put other bedding on top of it.

 
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8) Calling help

• If you do have an accident, the outcome is likely to be much better if you receive attention quickly.

• It is sensible to have a list of emergency numbers written clearly by the phone. If you have a cordless or mobile phone that you can carry with you, even better – programme the essential numbers into that, and make sure that you get into the habit of keeping it close at hand.

• There are now many 24 hour emergency response systems available, which work through a button on your telephone and another emergency button you can wear around your neck. Many local authorities run these, at a modest weekly cost. Check with your Council Offices about arrangements in your area. Particularly for people who live alone, or a long way from family and friends, it can be very reassuring to know that help can be summoned quickly at need.

 
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