Since becoming a parent I like to think I’ve upped my safety game. I always close the baby gate behind me and I put any cleaning products in cupboards high up, out of reach for any tiny hands.
Slater Gordon Solicitors Birmingham challenged me to take a look at #MySenseOfSafe, how I handle safety in my everyday life, I realised some improvements could be made.
Next to where I’m currently sitting with my laptop is a plug socket, with a four-plug extension adapter, with each of the spaces in use. Although it’s got a surge protector, that still doesn’t mean it’s necessarily safe.
Overloading the plug sockets can cause overheating, and even fires, but I tend to forget that as I charge my phone and my iPad, while my laptop and baby monitor are also plugged in. If I’m honest, I could hold off charging my appliances while I use the adapter for other things, that way I can avoid using all of the sockets at once.
Another area I could improve on is remembering to keep my coffee out of the way of my little fella. It’s quite a conundrum, if I leave my cup in the kitchen I’ll almost certainly forget to drink it while it’s hot.
I’ll usually bring it into the lounge when it’s a drinkable temperature and park it on the coffee table. It’s never boiling hot, but it’s still a pretty high temperature that could easily scold Lucas’ sensitive skin. I’ll either have to remember to put my cuppa down well out of reach, or set a reminder on my phone when I leave it in the kitchen!
I’m pretty good with other home safety advice – I have smoke alarms and a carbon monoxide detector, and I change the batteries in both regularly. I also double and triple check I’ve locked the front and back doors before I go to bed at night. I always turn off the oven before I take the food out too, then I know I won’t have left it on by mistake.
I also turn my TV off at the plug socket but I haven’t got into the habit of turning the sky box off at the plug as I don’t like to break my recordings so I could try and find one’s that are scheduled during the day to allow me to unplug during the night.
Also, making sure your locks are all in good working order and knowing a decent locksmith in your local area in case of any emergencies. If you do need to change your locks for some reason, it’s worth having a number of someone that is available 24 hours a day such as https://thelockboss.ie/dublin/ do if you live in Dublin.
Are there any home safety advice that you sometimes forget to take?