Home Safety Handbook

By Paul S. Medland

our home is ourt castle.. our place of safety.. or is it?? are your family members aware of the dangers of exploding water and dust bunnies?. seriously, it is far from a joke and they cause many home accidents each year. this book covers what the other safety manuals forget to mention, designed for all the family from your baby to great grandparent,it looks at each room of the house, garden too, and points out those dangers we tend to ignore. chemicals, electrical, escape routes, fire. it has individual checklist you can use to assess your own home, and is packed with useful information and ideas to help you make your family safe and secure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul S. Medland
• Release date: May 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476187327

Paul S. Medland

The author has a wide background in the medical and care fields, previously working as a Physiological Measurement Technician specialising in Audiology; a Operating Department Assistant in a busy operating theatre; and spending many years in both the NHS and Private Ambulance Services as a Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). He also has qualifications in Health & Safety and has extensive background knowledge of working with Abuse, Learning Disabilities and Autism.He enjoys writing about a variety of subjects, both factual and fictional, Following giving up work due to illness, he uses his factual books to teach and to share his gained knowledge and experiences with others.He also has interests in the Unknown and unexplainable.. UFOs / ghosts / conspiracies etc. and in his fictional books mixes both fact and fiction (Faction), creating fictional stories but based in real places or with real people and events. Written in a way to make you think, but leaving you to make up your own mind.

Book preview

Home Safety Handbook

Paul S. Medland

Copyright Paul S. Medland 2012

Published at Smashwords

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HOME SAFETY

HANDBOOK

Paul S. Medland

A Guide to protecting all our Family

From Dangers in the Home

Our home is our Castle,

a place of protection and safety,

or is it ?

We may not build moats and keeps or even barricade our entrance with a Portcullis but we still want our family home to feel safe, secure and protect those inside it from all danger.

Everyone these days are used to the effects of the Health & Safety laws in the workplace, we accept the constant risk assessments, signs, changes, orders or even bans as everyday occurrences. Yet at the end of the day we go home to our ‘Castle’ and leave our thoughts of Health & Safety at our front door along with shoes and briefcase till we go to work again.

The home has many hidden dangers, lurking in every room from the attic to the basement, just waiting to catch us off our guard, common everyday household items that have the capacity to harm, maim or sometimes kill.

Every parent loves to think their child is clever and bright, yet when it comes to safety within the home we can easily underestimate their knowledge, skills, intelligence and abilities to manage behaviour and see danger.

The elderly too, we take for granted that age has made them wise and taught them well, that ‘They know better!’. Yet in reality the elderly may not have grasped new concepts and changes, or how to safely use modern gadgets and equipment.

They may still be using outdated equipment or using old habits and customs that may have been a necessity in the war years to ‘get by’, but have no place in today’s modern world. They can also underestimate their abilities due to age and impairment which can place them in danger.

Whatever the age, children to grandparents, we are never too young or too old to be made aware of dangers that could cause harm to ourselves or others.

My observations come from experience in the past as a Professional Ambulance Man, where I entered many different private houses and attended many injuries caused by accidents within the home.

I also undertook Health & Safety training with the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. And hold the (I.O.S.H.) certificate.

I am hoping that this ‘Professional’ but ‘outsider’ view will make you consider your own home carefully and prevent you from making similar mistakes

If this book can prevent just one serious injury then it would have been worth the time taken to assemble the information and write.

Hopefully it may even save a life!

This book is a collection of my observations, of dangers that are not immediately apparent. I have tried to highlight these dangers and attempt to make you think about your own environment and make you aware enough to prevent a serious injury. Where possible I have given safety tips and for those that wish to really make their home safer at the end I will include room checklists that you can use.

There are many books available about child safety and bringing up children which will tell you about stair gates, sterilizing and other similar child related do’ and don’ts, this book is not designed to teach you childcare, or care of the elderly, just to make you think a little more about the environment your family lives in.

Where possible I have tried to assign dangers into the rooms most likely for them to occur, but many can happen in a mixture of locations in and around the home.

Chapter Index

General Layout, Access & Egress

Kitchen Safety

Bedrooms & Children’s Rooms

Bathroom & Toilet Safety

Living Area Safety

Home Office & Study Areas

Electrical Safety

Garages, Greenhouses, Garden Sheds

DIY Safety

General Hazards

Safety Ideas for the Home

Home Risk Checklists

The dangers highlighted and safety tips given in one section may also apply in others.

General Layout, Access & Egress.

It does not matter if our homes are bought or rented, we are proud of them and all desire to make them look good by decorating them and adding our own personal touches. Yet at times these additions create hidden dangers or create difficulties not immediately apparent.

As an Ambulanceman I was frequently called into homes to attend illness or injury and the majority of these cases required the patient to be removed to an Ambulance and taken to Hospital. The minor injuries were sometimes easy, the condition enabling the use of a specialized carrying chair that we could use to carry the patient down stairs and then wheel to the Ambulance.

However that is not always the case, frequently the patient is unable to sit in a chair maybe due to back injury and the only way out is laying flat on a carrying stretcher.

Q. When you are ill or have back pain, where is the first place you head for?

A. Normally the answer to this is ‘Bed’, and in the majority of cases the bedroom tends to be on the upper floors of the house.

IS THIS THE BEST PLACE ?

Nobody wishes to use the services of an Ambulance

Reviews for Home Safety Handbook

[Niranjan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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