Accidents at home often occur while completing normal, day-to-day tasks. In addition to the potential for injury, household accidents can lead to financial stress, insurance claims and even litigation. There’s no way to completely eliminate the risk of household accidents, but there are plenty of safety-conscious habits and maintenance tasks that can significantly lessen your risk. Here are some practical tips for how to avoid a home insurance claim, and explain why it’s important for safety to start at home.
A Safe Home Starts with Awareness of the Most Common Household Risks
For children, recreation facilities and athletic fields are the most common places to be injured. For just about everyone else, the home ranks at or near the top of the list. Home is a place where we often let our guard down a bit, and small oversights can increase the chance of household injury. In 2009-2010 alone, 4.27 million Canadians suffered injuries that limited their normal activities, and many of those injuries occurred around the house.
- Among senior citizens, the most common times for an accident occur when walking (28 percent) or completing household chores (27 percent). So more than half of all injuries to seniors in Canada occur while handling normal household tasks.
- Make doing chores safer by wearing shoes (or socks) with good grip, cleaning in well-lit rooms, and taking extra care while using cleaning products on slippery surfaces like tile, linoleum, and polished wood floors. Safe walking areas are a common theme in our tips for how to avoid a home insurance claim.
- Accidents around the kitchen are also very common, either while cooking or washing dishes. Always store knives in safe places out of reach of children, and never leave sharp items in a soapy sink.
- The kitchen is also frequently home to cleaning products, and other items that can be toxic if consumed by people or pets. Even if you don’t have children around often, it’s a good idea to store potentially dangerous cleaning supplies in a secure cabinet.
- Fires are among the most destructive household accidents, and many home fires happen due to preventable circumstances. Test your smoke detectors regularly, avoid overloading outlets, don’t smoke indoors, and do develop a fire safety plan that’s familiar to all residents of the home.
- Falls are one of the most frequent causes of household injury for seniors, and a common risk for all demographics. Stairs are a very common place for falls, so it’s important to keep stairways clean, and check that all handrails are properly secured. Driveways, walking paths, and outdoor spaces also deserve your attention.
- The bathroom is also a frequent place for falls, and household injuries in general. The shower/bath is the most dangerous place, and handrails can be very helpful while getting in and out.
- It’s easy to overlook the rest of the bathroom, but a slippery tile floor can be just as dangerous as a soapy shower. Bathrooms mats can provide a safe place to dry off, and you can lessen the risk for the next person to use the bathroom by cleaning up any excess water.
Trust Lane’s For All of Your Insurance Needs
There are so many risks around the house (and solutions!) that we could never cover them all, but the very common risks that we covered are the perfect place to start when making your home a safer place. It’s nice to know how to avoid a home insurance claim, and even nicer to avoid the injuries that cause those claims in the first place.
Lane’s Insurance is your source for home insurance in Calgary and throughout Alberta. We’re happy to help you assess your needs with a home evaluation and renew your plan with confidence.
