Personal & Commercial

Natural disasters are hard to prepare for and even harder to protect your home and family from, but it’s much easier to protect your home from damage caused by faulty electrical wiring, plumbing or household accidents. When it comes to these potential dangers, a few home safety steps can all but erase the possibility of a disaster inside the home. This includes the simple and routine inspection of water pipes, appliance hoses and other features of your home that can fail and cause major damage.

One of the most basic precautions you can take for home safety is to know where the emergency shutoff valves are located for your gas, water and electricity. For the water, look to the line between the water source and where water enters your home. With gas, the shutoff is usually located near the meter or gas source. Electricity can be shut off at the electrical panel. And don’t forget that every toilet, faucet and gas appliance should have its own individual shutoff. You should also check each of these valves annually to ensure they are in proper working order and turn smoothly.

Fire Safety

Did you know fire departments in the US are alerted every 20 seconds and almost 80 percent of structural fires start inside the home? How can you practice home safety to prevent a small, accidental fire from turning into a complete loss of your home?

• Be sure your home is equipped with smoke alarms on each floor of your home and in each bedroom. Check your smoke alarms periodically to ensure proper working order – a good rule of thumb is to check these each time you change the clocks for Daylight Savings Time.
• If you have a fireplace, be sure to clean and check the fireplace and chimney annually and ensure the damper is functioning properly.
• Furnaces and other appliances can also cause house fires. Be sure to have these checked and cleaned annually as well.
• Your home should be equipped with a working fire extinguisher. Store this in the kitchen within easy reach and check it annually to be sure it’s fully charged and within its expiration date.
• Store flammable material outdoors or in a well-ventilated storage area away from potential sparks or heat. The slightest spark can start a devastating fire, so proper handling and storage are essential.

Electrical Safety

One of the major causes of household fires is the improper use and care of electrical appliances. Two-thirds of all electrical fires begin in plugs or cords on fixed appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners or lamps. Overloaded electrical outlets, or circuits that supply power to several outlets, is a major cause of residential fires. To avoid damage to your home from an electrical fire, follow these simple home safety precautions:

• Inspect all appliance cords and plugs for wear at least once a year. If you discover a frayed cord or loose prongs on a plug, discontinue use until repairs can be made.
• To prevent overloading, never plug more than two appliances into an outlet at once or "piggyback" extra appliances on extension cords or wall outlets. Use only outlets designed to handle multiple plugs.
• Avoid plugging appliances into the same outlet or circuit in your home. Don’t exceed 1,500 watts for each outlet or circuit.
• If you live in an older home, have an electrician check the wiring to be sure it is up to code.
• Make sure the circuit breaker and fuses are of an adequate size and wattage for your home. All wiring systems have circuit breakers and fuses that disconnect power when they are overloaded, but this won’t help if the system isn’t adequate to handle the power of your home.
• Update your electrical outlets with ones that are fitted with ground-circuit interrupters, especially those outlets near a water source. This will prevent a fire if the outlet gets overloaded as well as prevent electrocution if the device gets wet.

Plumbing Safety

Even if you have new plumbing installed in your home, broken or cracked pipes, internal clogs and other issues can develop. While you can’t prevent every emergency, there are plumbing home safety steps you can take to minimize damage to your home and complicated repairs down the road.

• Periodically check various hoses and connections to be sure they are secure and free of leaks, including the hot water tank, dishwasher, washing machine and icemaker.
• Install a backflow valve in the floor drain if you live in an area where sewers sometimes back up into homes. This device will prevent future backups.
• If your home has a sump pump, make sure it operates properly by pouring a few buckets of water into the sump pit. The pump should quickly turn on, discharge the water then shut off without any problems.
• When the weather turns cold, you need to take extra precautions to avoid a burst or leaking pipe from flooding your home:
  • Disconnect outside water hoses. If left connected, water in the hoses can freeze and expand, causing faucets and connecting pipes inside your home to freeze and break.
  • If your home is equipped with interior shut-off valves leading to outside faucets, close them and drain water from lines.
  • Cover outside faucets using a faucet insulation kit.
  • Insulate pipes in unheated areas, such as garages or crawl spaces. Apply heat tape or thermostat-controlled heat cables around pipes that are exposed and prone to freezing.

One final note, be sure your house numbers are in a prominent location and are clearly visible from the street. This will help emergency services personnel find your home and save your family and belongings in the case of a home safety emergency.