Safety House

Household Safety Items

Keeping your house safe and child-friendly means having a number of safety items on hand. Below are a number of items and tips recommended by the Trauma Services and the Drug and Poison Information Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati:

Bicycle helmet
Injuries received while riding a bicycle resulted in 1,020 visits to the Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati Emergency Department during 2000. 84% of the head injuries were not wearing a helmet at the time of their bike accident. Bike helmets save lives.

Bike helmets

Blind cord re-winder
Strangulation can occur among children when blind cords become wrapped around their necks. Blind cord re-winders are an easy way to keep blind cords out of children's reach.		Blind cord rewinder
Car seat
A child safety seat prevents your child from being thrown about or out of the vehicle.		Carseat
High shelves for poisonous products
It is important to keep poisonous products out of the reach of children so they are not played with or ingested.		Keep poisonous household items on high shelves.
Emergency phone numbers
Emergency phone numbers need to be in plain site and easy reach so they can be quickly found by kids or the people caring for them.
Fire extinguisher
It is important to make sure that everyone in your household is instructed in the proper use of a fire extinguisher. This knowledge can prevent fires and save lives.		Fire extinguisher
Keep buckets turned upside-down to prevent drownings
Do not leave buckets of water unattended. When you are not using a bucket, keep it turned upside-down so that no water remains inside that could result in a drowning.		Keep buckets stored upside down
Outlet covers

Keep electrical outlets covered to prevent accidental shocks.

Cover unused electrical outlets
Sliding cabinet latches
Cabinet latches are an important defense to keeping children away from poisonous substance such as cleaning solutions, as well as medications which could harm them.		Latch cabinets to keep children away from medicines and poisous cleaning substances.
Smoke alarms
Smoke Detector's play an essential role in keeping home safe in the case of fires.		Smoke Alarm
Stair gates
Stair gates ensure small ones don't have access to steep stairways they could fall down and get hurt.
Thermometer
It is important to have a thermometer handy to prevent scald burns that could occur if children drank or bathed in too hot water.
Toilet seat lid lock
These locks ensure toilet seat lids are firmly down and that kids cant play or get hurt in the toilet water.		Toilet lid seat lock
Window locks
An open window can be disaster waiting to happen when small children are involved. Window locks can help prevent such falls.