The restroom may be your home's most dangerous spot.
The restroom could be one of the most dangerous places in a building, whether it's at home or in a neighborhood mall. Unfortunately, it's a place we all have to visit on a regular basis. Safety is probably not a major concern for most people when using the restroom for various reasons throughout the day, but there are plenty of reasons to keep restroom safety in mind.
Slippery and Hard Surfaces
The restroom is dangerous in its design. Most restrooms have hard and slippery surfaces throughout, whether it is the floor or the porcelain tub. These surfaces make falls more likely, and the items located around the typical restroom do nothing for cushioning the blow, according to Toiletology.com. Hard edges on toilets, towel racks and sinks make the restroom one of the most likely places in the home to be injured.
Keeping a rug on the floor of the restroom or a non-skid safety mat in the tub will help prevent slips and falls and may save you or your family from unnecessary injuries.
Medicine and Cleaners
The restroom is often the location in the home where people store potentially deadly substances. Items such as prescription medication, razor blades and toxic cleaning products are all commonly kept in the restroom cabinet or drawer.
Any of these items can cause serious health hazards for children. Care should be taken to install childproof locks on cabinets containing these potentially dangerous things or else they should be moved to a spot out of reach of young children.
Sanitation
Restrooms are a place where biological waste leaves the body and enters the sewer through toilets. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that all of this waste will make it where it is supposed to go. Waste can be transferred to hands or onto toilet seats. This may result in the waste being transferred to sink knobs, toilet paper dispensers, flush handles and other surfaces around the restroom.
Keeping a restroom sanitary with regular and thorough cleaning is the only way to minimize this risk to the health of you and everyone else who uses the room. Stressing thorough hand washing before leaving the restroom is also a good deterrent.
Unattended Children
Leaving small children unattended in the restroom can result in tragic consequences. Many families have been devastated by the drowning death of an unattended child in a bathtub. It is important never to leave small children in the tub unattended, even for a moment. It will be well worth the trouble of wrapping the baby up in a towel to go and answer the door and then bringing them back afterward to save a life.
Allowing a child to enter a public restroom without supervision is a risk parents should not take. Child abductions and molestation has been known to happen in public restrooms. Taking the time to accompany a child into the restroom, even if they must go into an opposite sex restroom, will prevent this kind of event from occurring.
Burns
If the hot water heater is set above 120 degrees, severe burning can occur in an instant. A bath for children should be around 90 degrees, according to HomeTips.com.
Feeling the water with an elbow will give a good idea on the comfort level of the water. It is also important to run some cold water at the end of the bath to cool the spout to avoid burning.
Tags: children unattended, most dangerous, small children, small children unattended