Prevention is better than cure!
Though all of us are aware of the above saying, we tend to focus on more economically important activities in our every day life and may find less or no time to afford for these essential Risk Management steps.
Who said Risk Management is only for businesses, corporates and factories? Your personal environment at home poses such risk, which is only increasing day by day due to your hurried life style and use of increasingly complicated electrical and electronic gadgets and appliances.
Monarch wishes to educate their clients, prospects and patrons on the issues of safety and risk management and this is the first among a series of write ups that we would post here on our website and “Home” is what first came to our mind. It is of utmost importance for a safer place for a home as that is where we have our most precious family living and our most important possessions kept
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Hazards of the household!
You may imagine that your home is the safest place on earth and staying home is the best option to stay away from risk…..please think again. There are so many things at home that are potentially hazardous and one about which one has to pay attention to.
Though the safety features are built in by design of the house by the building construction company and by the manufacturers of the various appliances that we use every day at home, there still remains a lot that we should do to ensure not only we , our family members and our household helpers are safe as related to the activities we perform at home.
Safety is a vast subject and we begin the story with Safety at Home. The following are some areas that deserve our attention
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1. Safety for your children:
Keeping kids safe from Electricity
Children have a natural ability to sense risk but the child in them frequently nudges them to do certain things no so appropriate to do. Let’s take open electrical plug points. Particularly when there are tiny tots, it is safe to provide plastic outlet protectors for unused plug points so that your tiny ones can’t poke a pencil or a metallic object into the plug holes.
Water and electricity are a deadly combination, especially when kids are around. You must ensure that there are no loose or dangling electric wires, with live connection to a power source, anywhere near your wash basin or your bath tub. There have been several fatal accidents involving leaked electric supply onto a plumbing source, a water tap or even a hand held shower when such a contact was there and a child by mistake switches on the power switch. A safety check of all your bath rooms to inspect this aspect would be advisable.
Child tamper-resistant outlets
You may replace your existing plug points with another type of electrical outlets that are intended to prevent a child from inserting something into the outlets. They look just like any other outlet, but behind the face of the receptacle are plastic shutters which are designed to remain closed until a plug is inserted.
Only when there is insertion into both vertical outlet holes at the same time, such as when a 3-pin plug is inserted, the interior plastic shutters open. Its safety is based on the fact that normally children may not try to insert two objects into the two vertical holes at the same time.
Improvement in Electrical fittings
The electrical outlet in the bathroom should have a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI.) This is a tool that protects you from a dangerous shock when water and electricity come together. An electrician can install a GFCI for you.
One of the most important safety devices in your home is a simple electrical device called a Residual Circuit Device (RCD), Estimates indicate that the installation of RCD's and Ground Fault Interrupters (GFCI) in the USA, have saved hundreds of lives and prevented thousands of injuries in the UK, and US in the past 30 years.
RCD'S or GFCIs are designed to provide protection against electrical shock from ground faults, or leakage currents, which occur when the electrical current flows outside of the circuit conductors. If a person becomes part of a path for leakage current, he or she will be severely shocked or electrocuted.
If GFCIs and RCDs were installed in every U.S. and UK homes, experts suggest that nearly 70 percent of the approximately 450 electrocutions that occur each year in the home could be prevented.
Choking Hazards
As you are quite aware, children in the age group of 1 to 5 are in the habit of putting any funny object that they find on the floor into their mouth, with intention of chewing on them, particularly because of growth in their dentures. It is unsafe to allow any small plastic or metallic small objects like bottle caps, pins, hair clips or any thing of that sort and of that size lying on the floor which can fall into the hands of such young kids. Accidental swallowing of any object, however small they are, can lead to medical complications and painful surgical procedures for removal.
Similar problems occur with plastic bags. Children tend to put them on their head and if left unattended the bag could suffocate the child and lead to more disastrous situations. Though manufacturers print notices of caution about choking hazards on the bags and plastic goods, we must understand that the notice is meant for parents and not children. Hence it is the duty of the parents to dispose plastic bags immediately after unpacking the contents and never allow the bag to fall into the hands of the children at home
Drug safety for kids
Please lock away all medicines and drugs from the reach of children since frequently they want to copy adults in taking medicines or drinking some medicinal potions etc. As you know, most drugs are schedule drugs which are sold under prescription of a qualified medical practitioner simply for the purpose of avoiding misuse or accidental wrongful consumption. It is necessary to be aware of the potential danger in having these drugs lie around the house in open shelves or table tops
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2. Slipping and tripping accidents
Stairs
Provide adequate lighting for the stairway and the staircase. Ensure that the carpet endings are well stretched and properly folded and nailed to the steps or the wall as the case may be. Loose ends and uneven surfaces are classic companions for a slipping accident- particularly if you have children running and senior citizens walking around the house
Split level flooring
Beware of potential incidents with split level, particularly when you have guests in the house. They are the potential victims of unfamiliarity of split level flooring in the house. Please be mindful of their movements and remember to caution them about the split level between drawing and dining or any such design architecture in your house.
Bathroom safety
If it takes “N” number of times to remind your family members of slippery floor in the bathroom, it is worth doing it that many times. If you have shiny polished ceramic tiles or marble in the bathroom, this advice is all the more relevant. Please provide holding rails in two or three locations in the bath room walls, because in most instances of slipping accidents, the extent of injury was reduced since the victim could hold the rails while falling
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3. Chemical hazards
Kitchen
Never store chemicals of any type in the kitchen area,
even if it is floor cleaning chemical used for the kitchen floor.
Please find a place, preferably with locking facility (your 5 year
old would be looking for it, anyway!) and away from normal space
within the house.
Do not use chemical spray within the kitchen and if
you have to anyway use them for getting rid of roaches and pests,
please ensure all edible items, cooked or uncooked, vegetables, milk,
water etc. properly secured inside airtight storage containers or
atleast covered tight with cellophane sheets or zip-lock bags. You
can’t see the sprayed chemical deposited on them when you spray
and you can imagine the harm this might cause to every body if not
secured. More importantly, this advise should reach your maids, who
are the ones who will be doing the spraying job and who need to know
to keep food items covered.
Pool
Please store the cleaning chemicals used for upkeep
and maintenance of your swimming pool away from the Pool area, away
from reach of children, preferably in a locking arrangement.
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4. Senior Citizens safety
Medical emergencies
It is essential to keep a check on the senior citizen as to their safety and well being, including their day to day activities like their sleeping and waking up, their food, their time in the bath room and also their time outside the home- like in the garden, by the pool and their walking routine.
Please keep their prescriptions properly filed and preserved for urgent references, in addition to routine use for purchase of drugs.
Please print and post the mobile no. and residential and clinic landline phone numbers of the attending physician for everyone to see, even your teenager who would be very useful to communicate at times of emergency.
In the same location, post the phone numbers of Emergency Services such as Paramedics and Hospitals close to your home, which you will look for in times of a health crisis
Slipping accidents
Slipping accidents for your senior citizens have to be eliminated to the level of zero, not that a slipping injury would be painful, but for the reason that if there is a fracture of a important bone structure like hip, knee, spine etc. their growth possibility for a senior citizen is quite limited and lead to complications. The recovery could be prolonged and would be a burden on all others at home, not to speak of the sheer cost of medical attention. It is worthwhile to protect them when they are alright, than face difficulties after they are hurt.
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5. Burglar proofing your house
Simple Ways to Protect your house and its contents
when you go on a Vacation:
- Agree to watch your neighbours' homes and have
them watch yours.
- Doors and locks should be checked and double checked
when leaving your home, particularly on a short or long vacation.
- You can install timers that turn lamps on at dusk
and off at bedtime.
- Uncollected items at your doorstep would invite
attention about your house being vacant even for a short duration.
Stop delivery of mail (or have a neighbor take it in every day),
newspapers, milk, etc.
- Disorderly growth of plants, grass and shrubs also
give away appearance of your house as unoccupied. You should arrange
to have your lawn mowed and plants tended with a gardener who visits
periodically with permission of your security company and may be
your dependable next door neighbour.
- Lock ladders and outdoor furniture in a shed or
garage to prevent their use as steps to an upper-level window.
- Never leave spare keys in mailboxes, under mats,
on top of doorframes or in planters because that is where burglars
would look for keys. Handover a spare key to a trusted neighbor
instead.
- Request your friends or relatives and certainly
couple of dependable neighbours have an eye on your house. Also
inform local police and your security campus company how long you'll
be away so they, too, can keep an eye on your home.
- All foundation shrubs and trees should be kept low
trimmed, so as not to provide cover and camouflage for a burglar.
- Rent a safe-deposit box in a bank. It's more secure
than a home safe.
- Tagging your keys with your name or address
will be a bad idea.
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6. Safety for those who work for us:
Yayas
Is your Yaya trained to help herself when she takes care of your kids?
You must check that she is physically stable, is protected by an insurance policy – as an employer and out of sympathy, you would tend to pay from your pocket if she falls sick or is injured in an accident inside home or outside.
Cooks
Your cook should alert about electrical and fire hazards. She must use rubber slippers when handling electrical appliances to avoid a serious electric shock. She should use gloves and eye protection when handling hazardous cooking activity like hot material, hot water, using the oven and grille or bar-be-que and also using open flame stoves. She must be encouraged to use caps, napes, aprons and other safety and cleanliness aids while she works in your kitchen. A proper health and accident insurance policy is ideal for your cook as it is necessary for other house hold help
Drivers
It is worthwhile to employ a driver who shuns alcohol and drugs. Most
frequently it is DUI (Driving under intoxication) that causes most accidents involving paid drivers. Checking this aspect from his previous employer or even personal questioning at the time of hiring will save many a future complication.
Another priority is physical fitness. Frequently experienced drivers avert accidents by using both their judgmental capability and also by their being physically and mentally fit and alert, by showing a quick reflex and intuition. We again come to the issue of driving timings. Drivers are most alert when they have proper rest in between duty schedules. A tee-totalling but unfit driver is still no help.
Most car owners pay additional premium for a Worker’s Compensation insurance cover for the paid driver. Still a stand alone accident and health insurance for your driver would ensure financial compensation to be paid by an insurer than pay from your pocket and still demonstrate that you are a caring employer
Security Guards
Same issue of alcoholism should be concern when you hire them. Their health, fitness, alertness and reflex are of utmost importance for your own safety. They are the ones who keep awake, when you have a peaceful sleep. Proper rest in between duty hours and comfortable uniform, proper equipment are necessary requirements to ensure your Security Guards perform best.
It would be advisable to contract out the accident and health insurance requirement for security guards to your contractor, but one can ensure it is mentioned properly in your contract so that you do not have surprises at a later stage.
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7. Emergency Phone Book & ICE
numbers:
It is advisable to keep ready a list of names with contact numbers, especially
mobile phone numbers of our most important emergency contacts such as
close relatives, friends and office colleagues who can be alerted when you or your family has an emergency. This should be posted in a prominent place in your house (bill board in dining room, your refrigerator etc.), carried in your person (your handbag or your laptop case) and also mailed to your self, when you yourself will be looking for such numbers in case of emergency.
Some mobile phone service providers have advised to include emergency numbers in your mobile phone (particularly for those users who may have epilepsy, asthma or cardiac history). When you become unconscious in a workplace, public transport or even on the sidewalk, anybody who wants to assist you can check your mobile phone to look for listing as “ICE-Wife” or “ICE-Father” and so on. This would help them reach your closest family or a reliable friend or office colleague at once. As you know ICE here denotes “In Case of Emergency”
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Please address all your queries and suggestions
on Risk Management issues to Monarch Insurance and we would be happy
to learn from you and also share it with other friends through this
website. Our mail ID is info@monarch.com.ph and phone
number is +63-2-848 0188.
