The summer offers many hours of play for families. Children are more free to hang out with their friends and explore. Parents feel like this is a chance to relax. However before getting settled into having fun there are important safety checks to perform. Here are 6 tips to prepare your home and family for summer safety.
Families should make sure they go over emergency situations with their children. This is useful because if an emergency should arise they are thoroughly prepared to deal with the situation and less nervous. By following the tips below families can have a safe but fun summer.
Remove Barbecue Grill Accessories from Easy Reach
Young children are very curious. They often find objects and have no idea what they are for or stop to think how dangerous they can be. In the summer we often have frequent parties and barbeques. With so much going on it’s more convenient to keep barbeque accessories all together to avoid having them spread out and looking for them all the time. Your kit could contain matches, lighter fluid, charcoal, and grilling forks. Alone or combined each is actually very dangerous. A child can start a fire, poison themselves, or puncture another child. You should keep this locked up at all times.
Keep Locked Gates around Pool Areas
Another dangerous water environment is swimming pools. Even the best swimmer may not survive falling into a pool accidentally. Also watch children’s swimming pools. Did you know a child can drown in only a tablespoon of water? We often let our children out into our backyards believing it to be safe, but if there is water in the pool this could be the most dangerous situation. Younger children will want to wash their dolls, have a car wash, or want to play hide-go-seek. Make sure to empty the kid’s swimming pool once they have used it for the night. Refill it the next time you will supervise them in there. Keep all pool areas locked to avoid accidents.
Know Your Neighbors
Many people move in the warm summer months. So you can always expect one or two new families somewhere in the nearby neighborhood. As much as we’d like to trust our neighbors there are people that slip in we should not have full confidence in. You should go out and meet your neighbors. See if your neighborhood can host a block party so everyone can be familiar with everyone’s face.
Keep Grills Away From the Home
Barbeque grills should be set up more than 10 feet from the home. A strong wind could gust hot charcoal or flames against the house and set it on fire in seconds. If your grill is meant for outdoors such as a gas tank or charcoal never grill on your porch or indoors.
Keep Fire Extinguishers Available Around the Home
Fire extinguishers are for more than just kitchen use. A fire can break out in almost any home. You should not have to run past more than 3 rooms in your home to get to one. Keep one handy outdoors also in case of fire breakouts.
Be Careful On the Fourth of July
The Fourth of July brings about many fire hazards. Everyone is out with firecrackers. These can be dangerous if not properly supervised.