Situation: A new house.
Solution:
Before you do
anything, educate themselves on the
top five home hazards: falls, poisoning,
fires/burns, choking and suffocation, and
drowning/submersion. As they don’t have any children
or old people—who proportionally suffer from the
most accidents—in the home, their job is much
easier.
They start by making sure that all
staircases and bathrooms have plenty of grips and
railings and are well lighted. Then, they install
fire alarms and fire extinguishers throughout the
house. The temperature on the hot water heater is
way too high, so they lower it down to 120 degrees.
Lastly, they test for environmental toxins like
radon, mold, and carbon monoxide. As they get more
moved in, they’ll do more safety measures, but this
is a good start.
Situation: Swimming pool.
Solution: install a
locking gate that goes around the whole perimeter of
the pool. They have their crew install the gate as
the pool is being built. In addition, Chris and
Brooke come up with a set of rules that includes no
alcohol in the pool area and no unattended children.
Situation: Baby proofing a home.
Solution: Decide to take it
one step at a time and deal with the things that are
most dangerous to their newborn. Their first stop is
the baby’s crib, where they make sure that the
mattress and sheets fit securely without any room
for the baby to get stuck. Then, they educate
themselves on bathing their newborn and emphasize to
one another the importance of never leaving the
child alone in the small baby tub. Lastly, they get
rid of any plastic that is not BPA free that the
newborn will come into contact with. Of course, when
they baby gets more mobile, they’ll have a lot more
baby proofing to do, but one thing at a time.
Situation: Phil’s dad, Roger,
just turned 85 years old and is not totally steady
on his feet. Rather than move into a nursing home,
Roger is going to be moving in with Phil and his
family. Phil wants to make sure that his home is
safe for his father so that he doesn’t have any
accidents.
Solution: After doing some
research online, Phil decides to start with the
bathroom, all stairs, and all rugs. He buys new
rubberized mats for his father’s bathroom and makes
sure that there are plenty of rails and grab holds
in the shower and around the toilet. Then, he makes
sure that all stairs in the home are well lighted,
have tight fitting rugs, and are free of toys and
other stuff. Lastly, he checks all of the rugs in
the home and makes sure that they all have no-slip
mats under them or are otherwise tacked down
securely without any bunching. While he wants his
father to feel independent, Phil makes sure to
monitor his father’s stair usage and always has a
family member listen in when his dad is in the
shower.
