Home safety checklist

Your home is more than just a house. It’s the place that shelters your family. It’s your security.

That’s why home maintenance is so important. Not only does taking care of your property prevent unwanted problems, it can also help keep you and your loved ones safe.

We’ve compiled a home safety checklist so you can track some of the most important home maintenance tasks. It can help you spot small issues with regular checks so you can ensure your home is in good health and working order. This effort may even pay off big time by preventing future claims.

Printable home safety checklist

Our printable home safety checklist is broken down into items you should tackle every six months and every 12 months. Once you get into a routine, the checklist can be completed rather quickly. You may even want to schedule calendar reminders in your smartphone to make sure you remember.

home-safety-checklist.pdf

As with most things in life, our home safety checklist isn’t 100% exhaustive. Please use common sense when inspecting your home and take appropriate safety precautions.

More home safety tips

Every room in your house has potential safety issues, and fixing even small problems can prevent them from becoming bigger problems down the road. Use these tips to identify hazards so you can address them immediately. That’s a great way to prevent losses and injuries.

Kitchen

People often say the kitchen is the heart of the home, but the equipment in it does pose some risks. Below are a few safety tips for your kitchen.

• Check your appliances and keep them clean. Removing the excess grease that can accumulate in ovens and stovetops over time can help reduce your risk of fire.
• Clean up spills immediately. You might not want to stop cooking when preparing a meal, but spills may cause unsuspecting people to slip and fall.
• Make sure knives are sharp. Believe it or not, but dull knives cause more injuries than sharp knives because they require more pressure to cut. A sharp knife cuts easier and is less likely to slip and cause a cut.
• Invest in a fire extinguisher. Even if you think you’re always careful when you cook, having a fire extinguisher handy means you can stop a problem before it gets too out of hand.

Living room

Who doesn’t love hanging with the family in their den? Help keep everyone safe by:

• Protecting electrical cords. Frayed cords are a fire hazard, so avoid placing electrical cords under rugs or hanging them on a wall using nails or staples.
• Wrangling drape and blind cords. This helps keep small children and pets from getting wrapped up in them.
• Securing rugs. Reduce a tripping hazard by making sure area rugs are tacked down so that corners don’t lift.

Bedroom

Many of the same risks for living rooms apply to bedrooms. A couple of other tips are listed below.

• Keep your phone nearby overnight. You want a phone handy in case you need to make an emergency call in the middle of the night.
• Avoid clutter. Not putting your shoes or clothes away creates a tripping hazard. Have a place for everything so that you can move about easily.

Bathroom

Bathrooms can have multiple hazards. You can make them safer by:

• Putting away your tools. Unplug hair dryers, curling irons, and electric razors when they’re not in use, and keep them away from the sink.
• Installing good ventilation. Proper ventilation reduces your chances for mold and mildew forming on your walls or ceiling.
• Storing medicines properly. Keep your medicines in a cool dry place, preferably a medicine cabinet, where children and pets can’t access them.

Don’t forget to download the printable home safety checklist to use regularly!