6 Ways to Prevent Slip-and-Fall Accidents in Your Home

6 Ways to Prevent Slip-and-Fall Accidents in Your Home

Slip-and-fall accidents can occur anywhere, even in your own home. Each year, millions of men and women fall inside their home, forcing them to seek professional medical treatment. While slip-and-fall accidents are more common among older adults, anyone can fall inside their home regardless of age. There are ways to protect against falls inside your home, however, including the following.

#1) Brighten the Interior

The brighter your home's interior, the less likely you are to slip and fall. When there's not enough lighting, you may unknowingly trip and lose your footing. You can prevent this from happening by brightening your home's interior.

#2) Lay Rugs Over Hard Flooring

If your home has hard flooring, such as hardwood or laminate, use rugs to create stronger traction and reduce your risk of slipping and falling. While attractive, hard flooring is often a contributing factor of slip-and-fall accidents. The smooth surface makes it easy to slip and fall. A few rugs, however, can create a safer environment in your home.

#3) Run Power Cords Along Walls

When running power cords in your home, place them along walls rather than across open spaces. Running a power cord from a wall outlet to a table lamp in the middle of your living room is never a good idea. With the power cord being in the open, you may trip over it. By running power cords along the wall, however, this shouldn't be a problem.

#4) Clean Spilled Liquids

If you accidentally spill a drink inside your home, clean it up as soon as possible to prevent slip-and-fall accidents. Whether it's a glass of water, soda or a bottle of cooking oil, always clean up spilled liquids. Otherwise, it will create a slippery surface on which you can easily slip.

#5) Hold Handrails When Using Stairs

If your home has stairs, hold the handrails when going up or down. Handrails are designed specifically to reduce the risk of falling. When you're in the middle of going up or down a set of stairs and suddenly lose your footing, the handrails can prevent you from falling.

#6) Deice the Driveway

Slip-and-fall accidents can also occur outside your home, specifically in the driveway. During winter, the cold weather may cause a layer of ice to form over your driveway. To protect against slip-and-fall accidents, you should deice your driveway by sprinkling it with rock salt.

Jan 16th 2019

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