“Can you possibly come and check one of our elderly resident’s gas lines? She has been without gas service since Saturday when the gas company shut her service off! The gas company said there was a leak….”!

I loaded the truck and headed out. Upon arriving, speaking with the resident and a cursory review, my initial expectations were confirmed. The gas utility company serving this residence quite possibly saved this woman’s life!  It was simply astonishing what I found when inspecting this home!! Although a leak could not be located without gas pressure in the line, there were a number of other very significant life/safety issues in this home. Had it not been an explosion from a gas leak, it could have been death by carbon monoxide poisoning or the significant chance of a fire from the other safety deficiencies present!!

Every day we take ours, and our family member’s, safety for granted and expect all to be well in our homes. After all, isn’t that a new gas furnace we just bought, or wasn’t that a professional electrician that fully rewired the home? Even a brand new home is not guaranteed to be free of safety defects!  Yet with all the time, energy and expense we spend on our homes we sometimes forget to perform  simple safety checks on a regular, recurring basis. It costs nothing but a short amount of time to perform many simple checks.

In 2005 there were over 380,000 home fires resulting in 13,000+ injuries and 3,000+ deaths1. Of those fire deaths, 2242 occurred in homes without smoke alarms or working smoke alarms. How many times each year do you test your smoke alarms and change the batteries? Do you have smoke alarms, sufficient number of smoke alarms and are they properly located? The National Fire Protection Agency recommends testing smoke alarms each month and replacing batteries at least every year, if not sooner2. Take a few minutes to view these recommendations and the many more on their WEB site. One smoke alarm costs less than $30 and a quality 9 Volt battery less than $2.  Isn’t your family’s safety worth more than that?

Do you have a fuel burning appliance in your home? Are you familiar with the precautions you should take? Are you aware that although carbon monoxide (CO) alarms have been readily and cheaply available for years, they have only recently been mandated in many codes and jurisdictions? Are you aware of what carbon monoxide is? CO has been appropriately named “The Silent Killer”. You can’t
see it, smell it or taste it but it is a byproduct of combustion in fuel fired appliances. In 2005 fire departments across the country responded to over 54,000 non-fire related carbon monoxide incidents in homes3. There are many ways to combat CO from proper maintenance of fuel burning appliances to the use of CO detectors.

These examples are but two of the many home safety deficiencies that injury and kill thousands each year. You can make a difference in your family’s safety and well being by educating yourself on safety practices in the home. I have assembled a number of links on the following "Safety, Security And Health" links WEB page for you to use. Take a little time and create a safe environment for your family!

Reference:

1. National Fire Protection Agency U.S. home structure fire statistics

2. National Fire Protection Agency, Smoke Alarms Fact Sheet

3. National Fire Protection Agency, Carbon Monoxide Fact Sheet