From the kitchen to the basement, injuryproof each room
Home safe home? Don't count on it. Turns out, our homes and yards are hotbeds for injury. Fix up your house of pain with this easy guide.
Injuryproof your living area
Main staircases tend to get cluttered with things that need to go up — you know, the laundry you climb over on your way to bed? These tripping hazards contribute to the nearly 1.5 million ER visits a year women make due to accidents on stairs, ramps and floors. Clear your way: Hang a bag on the banister for step stuff.
Put bright bulbs in fixtures at the top and bottom of every staircase so you can see where your feet are landing.
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I HAVE a five-month-old baby who is beginning to move when I put him on the floor, so I think it may be time to start baby/child proofing my home. Where do I begin?
CHILDREN by nature are curious and they need and want to explore the world. Nine out of 10 unintentional injuries can be prevented by thinking safe and acting safe. Fifty per cent of injuries occur in the home, with the highest amount of injuries happening in the one-three age bracket.
Creating a safe environment for your child can seem like a difficult chore but when you consider statistics regarding child injury it is clear that it is an essential task associated with parenting.
Anticipate the developmental stages of your child. It is a good idea to start now before your child really takes off. I always tell parents when they are about to undertake this task, sit on the floor and observe dangers from your child's level. This will allow you to envisage items that may attract attention from your child.
Kitchen area
Curious toddlers have a fixation with opening and closing ovens and dishwater doors. These appliances pose danger to your child as they often contain sharp instruments such as knives or breakables like glassware.
Refrigerators may contain items that pose choking hazards. Hobs and pot handles create a risk of burning or scalding.
Solutions:
Install locks on all appliances that open and close.
Use a hob guard to protect against burns.
Fix knob covers to prevent curious hands from turning on knobs.
Get into the habit of using the back rings.
Turn pot handles inwards when cooking.
Kitchen presses and drawers contain many safety risks including chemicals, medications, sharp items and bits and bobs that may pose a risk to choking.
Solutions:
Install press and drawer locks and keep chemicals like detergents and cleaning agents in an overhead press.
Place medicines and poisons in a locked cabinet.
Keep electrical appliances unplugged and out of reach.
Use outlet covers to keep your baby from sticking her fingers into electrical sockets.
Avoid using tablecloths or runners as children love to pull items.
Bathroom
Children under one year of age can drown in bathtubs, buckets or toilets. Scalds and burns are also common injuries in the bathroom.
Solutions:
Set your water temperature to no higher than
Turn on cold water first, and turn it off last when filling the bath or sink.
Test the temperature of the water with your elbow.
Never leave any child unsupervised in the bath even for one second.
Use a toilet seat lock for the toilet and use a non-slip mat in the bath.
Keep all sharp items (razors etc) in locked cupboards in the bathroom and keep all cosmetics/ bleaches on shelves out of reach of toddlers
plants
Be mindful that many plants are poisonous. Potting materials can pose a choking risk.
Solution:
Keep all plants out of reach and make sure they are labelled. Do not use rocks or marbles in potting materials.
dining and living areas
Coffee tables and other tables have sharp corners. Babies often pull themselves from sitting to standing using the coffee table. Fireplaces have sharp corners and pose the threat of burning or choking from small objects in the hearth. Freestanding units including televisions are a serious threat to children's safety.
Solutions:
Use table cushions for all sharp corners including breakfast counters and islands.
Keep tables away from window ledges.
Use a spark guard at all times.
Ensure that a fire guard is securely installed around the fireplace and fitted to the wall.
stairs
Many falls occur on stairs. Curious toddlers, when crawling, stumble on the stairs and may find they can ascend but have no idea how to come back down.
Solutions:
Install a safety gate at the top and bottom of the stairs. Ensure they are fixed securely.
Keep stairs free of clutter that could cause a fall not only for your baby, but for you as well.
Always supervise young children as they learn to climb stairs.
Check banisters regularly to ensure they are not loose and that small heads cannot fit between the bars.
handbags, purses, keys
Handbags and purses contain a range of hazards, often including medication, coins and sharp objects. Keys often have small parts that can come off and create a choking risk.
Solution:
Keep bags, purses and keys out of reach of all children. Also be mindful when visiting houses with children that you keep these items out of their reach.
floors
Thick carpets hide objects that can cause choking. The corners of kitchen floors and under presses are often havens for choking hazards like peas or pet food.
Solution:
Get down on the floor and check it regularly for small items. Keep floor swept and clean up spills immediately as they occur. Keep pet food and bowls out of children's reach.
nursery
It is recommended that babies remain in their parents' room until the child is six months. Cots that are not assembled correctly pose a huge safety risk. Chords from blinds can be very dangerous.
Solutions:
Ensure cots are assembled correctly. You should be able to slide just one finger between the mattress and the side rails and headboard.
Remove pillows and soft toys from cot.
Do not place a cot near a window and make sure blind cords are out of reach.
Make sure night lights do not touch fabric curtains or bedspreads.
Make sure there are no strings on toys or soothers.
Place door jam locker on all doors.
Allow child to play with age-appropriate toys that have a CE mark.
car safety
All children should be properly restrained while travelling in a car. There are four different car-safety seats in use presently: baby seat, child seat, booster seat and booster cushion. The type used depends on your child's weight and height.
Solutions:
Ensure the car seat used conforms to the United Nations safety regulations and check safety standard E number.
Make sure the car seat is fitted according to manufacturer's instructions.
Do not use second-hand car seats as you may not be sure if they are damaged.
Never leave a child unattended in a car and always remove the keys and lock the vehicle.
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Construction crews Monday will kick off improvement work on the railroad crossing near
The weeklong project calls for replacing the hard rubber mats that surround the railroad with cement ones and leveling of the road in the immediate area next to the railroad spur.
The mat replacement will be done by a private company hired by Land O' Lakes, while the road-level portion will be done by a city crew.
Tulare Street Superintendent Bobby Dykes said local motorists will notice the roadway improvement.
"It's a much-needed repair," he said.
The work will be similar to the railroad crossing at
Instead of closing the street for the project, construction workers will employ a temporary closure method, Dykes said.
On Monday, workers will close the southbound lanes and use the northbound lanes to move traffic through the area.
Once half the work is complete, traffic will be diverted to the southbound lanes.
Dykes asked motorists planning on driving through the area to slow down to provide safety for the construction workers.
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The Connage Highland Dairy is offering its support for the campaign which highlights the consequences of slips, trips and falls in the workplace.
More than 4,000 people suffered injuries as a result of slips, trips and falls last year, the HSE claims. The new campaign aims to highlight the risks present in a place of work.
"Unfortunately, people often think that slips, trips and falls are trivial, even comical, but they are no joke to those who suffer major injuries, time off work and a lifetime of disability," said Ann Poyner, HSE inspector for Inverness.
Jill Clark from the Connage Highland Dairy added that the employer takes the safety of its staff "very seriously" and is "delighted" to be supporting the Shattered Lives campaign.
Simple steps that can be taken to help reduce the risk of slips, trips and falls include laying non-slip mats on the floor and ensuring hoses are raised off ground level.
Companies wishing to see how they can help to reduce the risk of slips and trips in their working environment may find an in-company training course from Norwich Union Risk Services helps to address any health and safety concerns within a business.
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A recent Victorian Supreme Court decision regarding s138 recovery proceedings commenced by the Victorian WorkCover Authority (VWA) has highlighted the paramount importance of the employers’ duty of care for its workers irrespective of incidents caused by the use of defective hire equipment owned by third parties.
The worker, John Wilson, sustained an injury to his right knee on 3 April 2001 during the course of his employment with Sleepmaster Pty Ltd (indemnified by the VWA) (Sleepmaster). He was dismounting backwards from a forklift, when his right foot slipped on the surface of the floor pan. The worker fell from the forklift and landed on the ground on his right foot, which he stated caused his right knee to ‘pop.’
The worker’s injury had a complicated recovery and due to ongoing symptoms (which were accepted as caused by the incident) he underwent an above knee amputation of his right leg in May 2003.
The defendant to the VWA recovery proceedings, Prolift Fleet Management Pty Ltd (Prolift) was the owner of the forklift that had been hired by Sleepmaster. The VWA claimed recovery from Prolift alleging that the forklift had two defects which contributed to the incident and the worker’s injury. It was alleged that there was no grab handle attached to the left side of the forklift. The VWA produced evidence that both defects could have been fixed inexpensively by Prolift prior to hiring out its forklift to Sleepmaster.
Prolift’s experts alleged that surface tests on the slipperiness of the forklift’s floor pan demonstrated it was “relatively safe” and the experts contended there was no evidence that the absence of a grab handle played a causative role in the incident.
Kaye J was satisfied on the evidence that, on the balance of probabilities, a relevant causal nexus in negligence and breach of statutory regulation existed between Prolift and the worker’s accident. His Honour found the floor pan to be defective as a non slip mat had only covered part of the floor pan and that Prolift should have had a substantial part of the surface covered with a proper abrasive material to render it safe. Further, Kaye J held that the absence of the grab handle further exacerbated the dangerous state of the forklift, as a proper grip handle would have provided the worker with a better grip on dismount.
Regardless of these findings against Prolift, Kaye J apportioned the bulk of the responsibility for the worker’s injury on the VWA. His Honour asserted that the employer was 70% responsible in proportion of liability, having regard to Section 24(2) of the Wrongs Act 1958. Kaye J reasoned that the employer owed a non-delegable duty of care and that duty included the requirement to provide safe plant and equipment for the worker. His Honour noted the employer controlled the worker’s environment, the work performed, the type of plant used and the condition of that plant. The employer was under no obligation to accept the forklift in a defective state from Prolift and had not required Prolift to fix the defects under its hiring agreement.
The quantum of the worker’s claim was assessed at $2,952,352.10. Prolift was held to be 30% liable and was ordered to pay $885,705.63 to the VWA for past and future indemnity.
The findings in this case highlight that an employer cannot completely rely on an indemnity clause in its hire agreement to protect it from liability if the use of such hire equipment causes injury to an employee. The employer’s duty of care to ensure the safety of the worker in the workplace remains paramount. Use of external equipment owned by third parties does not lessen the duty of care obligations owed by the employer.
To reduce an employer’s risk to a worker when using hire equipment, the employer must ensure it undertakes a thorough inspection of equipment and that it requests defects be rectified by the hire company prior to undertaking an agreement to hire the equipment. It must also act immediately if a defect is identified after hire. The forklift here had obvious defects, but the employer still allowed its worker to use it without requiring the hire company to rectify the defects, which is why the VWA was deemed 70% responsible for the worker’s injury. However, it is unlikely that an employer would be deemed to have such a high level of responsibility in a matter where a defect in hire equipment is not obvious to an employer until after an incident causing a worker injury occurs. Time will tell.
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You've heard the statistic so many times, your eyes glaze over. But it's true. The biggest cause of injury and disabling trauma to baby boomers are falls. Not big spectacular ones, like tumbling down stadium steps, but simple ones at home - a slip in the tub during a shower, where you get a brain injury from hitting your head on the faucet. A sprained ankle from getting out of bed and tripping over something on the floor.
One reason we fall more as we get older is that balance deteriorates. You need muscles for good balance, and a lot of boomers get physically lazy as they age. They do less physical activity, and the vicious cycle begins: less exercise means weaker muscles and weaker bones. So there's not enough muscle for good balance, and the bones also get so much weaker that they are more prone to break in a fall.
I won't waste your time or mine by encouraging you to join a gym or go for a daily walk. If you're not already exercising, you probably won't start. But I will quote the wise words of orthopedic surgeon and multi-gold medal Olympian Eric Heiden, who says, "Be proactive. Do things to prevent falls and stop them from happening. For example, one place where a lot of people fall are on throw rugs. Don't have those in your home, or if you do want an area rug, tape it down firmly." He mentions using the double sided tape made especially for loose little rugs.
Another danger to eliminate, according to Dr. Heiden, is the slippery bottom of the tub. "Put a rubber mat on the tub floor, and make sure it won't slip around. If the mat is secure, you'll have a lot less chance of slipping and falling," he says. Of course, remember that if the mat isn't scrubbed every so often, it will get slippery from dirt and the oils in conditioners and shower gels - and if it's slippery, the only thing the mat will be good for is to cushion your fall a little bit when it happens.
It may also be a good thing to take a second look at the area around your bed. Are there spindly little tables that will collapse if you fall on them? Sharp-cornered tables very close to the bed? Top heavy lamps that can fall over easily - perhaps on you? Dr. Heiden says to move anything that can cause injury so it isn't right beside your bed.
By taking steps in advance to prevent falls, you keep your physical ability. Heiden says you may never be the same after a fall. "Where you were once active outside and at home, afterwards, you may only be able to be active at home - you have to be more cautious outside; perhaps even use a cane," he says.
If you do fall, NEVER stick your arm out straight to stop the fall. That will only dislocate your shoulder or break your wrist. Instead, bend your arm, holding your hand close to your body. That will allow most of the impact to be shared over the larger area of your body, rather than the three bones of your narrower arm.
By thinking about falls BEFORE they happen, you can do a lot to minimize or even eliminate them. As you get older (You DO plan on getting older, right?) you'll be very glad you did.
Wina Sturgeon is an active boomer based in Salt Lake City who mountain bikes, rides BMX, skates on both ice blades and wheels, lifts weights and skis to stay in shape
IT DOES not take long before a little canal water splashes into your lap. Your arms are already wet and at this point, Winston Churchill’s legendary prescription for long life comes to mind: "No sports!"
If you set out to explore
That, however, is the appeal of Gillard’s Thames River Adventures, which show the English capital from angles completely different from those found in travel guides.
Participants in the Regent’s Canal tour lugged their kayaks to the pier and put them in the water themselves. Then Gillard gave everyone a paddle and a few instructions: sit down, do not rock, keep your back straight and shoulders tilted forward.
This allows you to move forward swiftly without expending much strength, making the trip past
There are few places in
Another nature tour, lasting about an hour, takes visitors down the
From the pier, the tour proceeds between maple trees to a park and then a little uphill to the famous prime meridian (zero degree longitude) at the Royal Observatory,
A look towards the city from this part of the Thames takes in skyscrapers,
If you take the underground railway on Sunday to
About five or six times larger than
You can traverse the park walking in about an hour, during which, with a little luck, you will encounter deer, woodpeckers, ducks and squirrels while passing seas of ferns. There are almost always people in
Nearly 40% of
Last autumn,
Plants in the greenhouses dotting the park’s 121 hectares include exotic bloomers and ceiling-high palms as well as coffee and olive trees. Flora from all over the world is on display.
Lovers of the outdoors need to be weatherproof in
This, however, does not keep a true Briton at home. One popular outdoor activity, cultivated by the Mid-Surrey Bowls Club directly adjacent to
White shirts and grey trousers are de rigueur even in practice. With one foot placed on a rubber mat, the bowler strides forward with the other leg and rolls a ball toward a target ball.
Some people have bowled at the club for 25 years. The register kept by the club’s officers in the clubhouse testifies to a much longer tradition, though. So does the golden badge on club jackets, and also the reverence with which the men play the game.
These Britons have no reverence for the Churchillian prescription of "No sports!".
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Keeping your oven clean is the best way to prevent a lot of these issues. Persuading your spouse to do that is the challenge.
Oven temperatures are determined by a thermostat, which usually is visible inside the oven if you just look. It looks like a long tube near the side wall of the oven. They can go bad and are fairly easily replaced. Shut off the current to the oven before working on it, and check your owner’s manual for specific instructions. It’s usually just a matter of disconnecting the wires of the old thermostat and removing it, and then installing the new one in reverse.
If you find that one of the electrical heating elements isn’t working, you can replace that as well. Again, shut off the power, disconnect the element and install the replacement.
If your oven is gas, then check the flames to see if they are even. Sometimes the ports where the flames come out are blocked, and they can be cleaned out to work better.
On some gas ovens, you may be able to adjust the settings for the flame, so check your owner’s manual to see where the adjustment is located.
The igniters on gas ovens also can go out and are an easy-to-install replacement.
If you are unsure of how to replace or repair any of these parts, just call a pro. You don’t want to make a mistake with your oven or with your family get-together! If you need additional information about your oven and don’t have an owner’s manual, check online to see if the manufacturer can supply one to you. Online sources like repairclinic.com also are a handy tool to use.
@Neighbor leadin:Add security to sliding door: A sliding patio door may let in a lot of light, but it also can let in a thief if you are not careful. Many are not as secure as they ought to be, but you can add another layer of security by adding a piece of pipe to the track. When one is placed behind the movable door to fill the track all the way to the back of the door frame, the door will be impossible to slide open. A piece of PVC pipe is an easy choice because it is inexpensive and easily cut with a saw. You’ll hardly know it’s there, except that you will sleep a lot better at night!
Reuse labels: We hardly send anything through the mail anymore, and we have accumulated a lot of extra stick-on address labels. These labels are super for branding your tools and other supplies. Put them on hand tools, power tools, books, cameras and anything else that you might leave lying around or loan out to friends who might forget who it belongs to.
Ÿ We are getting ready to move again, and decided to have a quick garage sale to cut down on the packing. To draw attention to the house, I painted the side of the car to get people to come to our garage sale. I got some paint made for decorating cars and wrote “Garage Sale” on the side, so everyone driving down the street could see it and stop. It worked, and we did save ourselves a lot of packing.
Ÿ We love camping out, and since we live near a forest, we are able to do it often. I had an old flashlight that we replaced with a newer, LED model. But I kept the old one, since it was watertight. I removed the battery and put several emergency items inside the watertight case. I have a light stick, matches, bandages, medicine, phone numbers and some extra cash. It floats, too.
Ÿ The last time it rained, water was overflowing from my gutters. It turned out I had a clog in the downspout over my patio. I got out there and climbed my ladder, and the ground was still so wet that the ladder was sinking into the mud. I got the rubber floor mat out of my car and put it under the ladder legs, and that stopped the sinking. I was able to get the gutters unclogged before the rain started up again. I even let the rain wash off the floor mat by leaving it in the driveway.
Ÿ Baby wipes are great for chores around the house. I have a toddler, so we go through a lot of them. When I buy them in bulk, I have so many that I end up using them for lots of cleaning chores, too. They work great. They are so much easier to grab than cleaner and a paper towel or sponge. They even work pretty well on grease, and I also like the smell.
Ÿ We always carve jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween. Each child does his or her own, and even my wife and I participate. We have switched from candles to the small LED “tea lights.” These work using small batteries and can be turned off and on by a switch on the side. My wife has used them for other things around the house, and they work for a very long time before you have to replace the batteries. We buy several at a time and save money. As an added bonus, the pumpkins will last longer and the lights will stay lit all night, unlike the candles.
Ÿ Don’t open your garage door with the automatic opener unless you can see the door. Someone or something may be leaning up against it and could accidentally fall or be injured.
Ÿ One creative idea to clean out a stopped-up drain is to remove the water and the clog with your wet/dry shop vacuum. It’s messy, but it usually will do the job.
Ÿ I’m not a super gardener, but I do try. I dig up some bulbs and store them in my garage during the winter in order to protect them. The best way to store them is to let them dry out, then knock the dirt off the roots and put them in a mesh bag. I save the mesh bags that I get from the grocery store when I buy onions and potatoes. These are great for storing bulbs, and they are free, so why not use them? I usually put a card in each bag so I know what bulbs are inside. Each spring, I get them all out and start planting. It’s one of my favorite times of the year!
Q. We have a nice storm door on the front of our home. The problem with it is that the screws are coming out of the hinges where it is attached to the door frame. What can we do to fix it?
A. You can try using longer screws. That should resolve the issue. If not, you may have to fill the existing holes with dowels and redrill for new screws. Your third option is to replace the doorjamb, but that will entail removing both doors first.
Q. We have a clear finish on our wood floor that was applied several months ago. I can see bubbles in it, and wonder if this is normal. I don’t think they should be there. Can you get rid of them somehow?
A. No, you should not have bubbles in the finish. Either the clear finish is to blame, or the application process is. Either way, I would contact the installer and have that person correct the problem. The finish will need to be removed and reapplied.
Q. Our refrigerator has the water-in-the-door feature. Now that the kids are all in college, we don’t seem to use it as often, and it has slowed to a trickle. How do we unclog it and clean it out?
A. The first thing to check might be the solenoid valve. This valve is responsible for starting and stopping the water flow, and if it’s not working, then the water won’t come out. It’s also possible that the line might be blocked by mineral deposits, which tend to build up due to your water supply. If you can get to the line, you might be able to clean it out with some vinegar. Good luck!
Ÿ If you have a Dremel rotary tool, check this out. The Sharpening Kit has everything you need to sharpen a wide variety of commonly used blades. The kit includes three attachments the Chain Saw Sharpener, Lawn Mower Sharpener and Garden Tool Sharpener. You get the sharpening bits as well as the guides, which help to give you the optimum angle. It makes these sharpening jobs fun to do, and will keep your tools ready to go when you need them. A sharp edge will make the chores go faster, too, and with much less effort. And you can use it on other garden and household tools. Check it out at www.dremel.com or at your hardware store or home center.
]]>Toyota Motor Corp. recalled its Venza in
The delay has caught the attention of federal regulators, who last week fined
Under
"NHTSA continues to investigate the timeliness of
NHTSA is conducting a broad review of
By law, automakers must inform NHTSA of any foreign recalls involving models similar to those sold in the U.S. Toyota, however, said it was not recalling U.S. models because the "all-weather floor mats are not imported to the U.S."
Then on Jan. 27, Toyota reversed itself and told NHTSA that it would in fact recall the Venza here, adding it -- along with the Corolla, Highlander and Matrix -- to its ongoing campaign to address floor-mat entrapment.
In a statement to The Times,
In its Dec. 16 report to NHTSA,
Filings with safety regulators indicate that the actions taken by
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Kindergarten students at
After perfecting their throw using yarn balls, they learned from physical education teacher Jim Quam how to practice their aim in a game.
"You've got to incorporate a game somehow or else they will be bored," Quam said.
The game, called Oscar's Garbage Can, encouraged students to throw yarn balls into the "can," which was a gymnastics mat folded and standing on end.
One student was chosen to be Oscar and throw balls back to classmates. Quam set rubber mats up around the mat, and if a student threw a ball into the mat, he got to keep the rubber mat.
The activities were meant to teach the kindergarten students how to manipulate an object.
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