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HOUSES?
     
    Most people think of the home as the one place where they can feel safe and secure—but statistics show that in industrialized societies there are as many accidents in the home as on the roads. In Britain alone, one person in 30 will have a serious accident in the home. Hospitals treat at least three million domestic injuries—and, since some result in visits to the doctor or self-help, the actual number of accidents may be much higher. Even in the garden, over 90,000 accidents are reported, ranging from slight to fatal.
     
     
    Types of accident
    Everyone is at risk, but children and old people particularly so. The young are inquisitive and full of energy, while older people can quite often be handicapped by poor eyesight, bad hearing and slower reactions.
    A quarter of a million British children require hospital treatment for accidents which result from the structure of the house itself—falling and head injuries from hard edges and corners of furniture.
    Children at play around the home will have quite surprising accidents—most of which cannot be foreseen. Most hurt themselves by falling, tripping or slipping on a flat surface. Statistics are lower for falls from one level to another, such as out of a window. Next come injuries against objects such as the corners of tables, followed by cuts and deeper wounds, suffocation, poisoning and burns.
     
     
    It’s up to you
    People spend an average of 16 hours a day at home, so make sure yours is safe. Keep it properly maintained—put right any problems that increase risk. Make sure that you do not create new dangers as you make changes or improvements.
    Most occupations and areas of work are covered by stringent safety laws. These should always be followed and it is not totally up to you to ensure that you are protected from injury. But in the home, safety is largely a matter of common sense and personal discretion.
    There are rules and regulations regarding the structure itself, but these have changed over the years and older dwellings may (quite literally) be deathtraps. Correctly installed and maintained gas, electrical and other services should be safe—but wear and tear on these, added to the possibility of human error, could be lethal.
    Surveyors will tell you if a structure is safe or not, but no one will come to your house to check for worn electrical flexes, loose stair carpets and slippery floors. You are unlikely to be arrested for not paying due attention to an old and weak ceiling which could collapse. It is up to YOU to judge these things for yourself or call in an expert when in doubt. Don’t wait for something to happen!
    Many household accidents could be avoided with a better understanding of the risks involved—an increased awareness of dangers which could seriously affect the lives of the occupants of your home.

PLEASE NOTE
     
    All EMERGENCY! and SAVE A LIFE ! panels are intended only to guide you through emergency procedures, and to avoid the need to search through the pages of this book in a crisis. More-detailed instructions appear in the HEALTH chapter. Learn the procedures BEFORE you need to use them.
     

THE STRUCTURE
     
    Keeping your house in good repair is not just a matter of maintaining market value. Damage, defects and decay could create a serious risk to life and limb. When you buy a house it is usually thoroughly inspected by a qualified surveyor, but no one can spot every potential problem, nor predict exactly how a building will behave as time passes and external conditions change.
    Every structure ‘settles’ throughout its lifetime. This settlement is caused by the sheer weight of materials used in the construction, but is also affected by changes in the use of the building—floors and walls are affected by heavy traffic and the positioning of unusually heavy furniture. This process can be accelerated by environmental and local conditions. If you are worried about the safety of your home, it would be worth seeking