Do we live in a safer world today than in generations past? The answer depends on your perspective. From a technological standpoint and public awareness standpoint, perhaps we are living in smarter and safer times. But crime statistics, accident reports, disease epidemics, and terrorist activities would tend to seriously contradict that notion. In many ways, the prospect of true personal safety can be an elusive goal. Unless you lock yourself in your house and never come out, you will face risks in life. Of course, if you were to park yourself permanently indoors, you could still fall in the bathtub, trip on a rug, smash into a wall, etc. Bottom line... you can never be 100% safe from all possible risk. Bad things can happen to anyone, at any time, and at any place.

So what should we do? The key to safety is actually found in plain old common sense. You need to balance and manage your risk every day to maximize safety without letting life pass you by. The common sense techniques provided in this guide are designed to help you do just that. We offer no guarantee of safety, but there is much you can do to stack the odds in your favor.

For starters, you need to have a strong feeling for safety. Why? Because many of the safety factors developed to protect you function only if you do something about them. Do you buckle your seat belt every time you get in the car? Do you cross the street at crosswalks instead of jaywalking? Do you walk or jog on the left side of the road so that you are facing oncoming traffic? These are just a few of the things that you know and can do something about.

We all bear responsibility for making our own environment safe. But we need to take steps to help others also. For instance, a jagged piece of metal and certain types of broken bottles on the street can cause a car tire to blow and the driver to loose control of the vehicle. Broken glass on the beach can send someone to the hospital for stitches. When you take time to clean up things such as broken bottles, etc., you are taking a big step toward protecting others.

An accident is something that happens to you and to others. It's easy to think that these accidents just happen. But they don't. They're not just bad luck or bad breaks that come to you out of nowhere. An accident is never supposed to happen. It isn't planned and it isn't deliberate, but accidents are caused, and they are generally preventable.

Accidents are the result of some set of unsafe conditions. Think about your automobile. Is it an example of "an accident waiting to happen?" Are the brakes in proper working order and the pads within safe specs? Do all of your headlights and tail lights function? Are the tires properly inflated and with adequate thread to grip the road? Is the steering tight and responsive? Is your windshield clean? Like we said, these are common sense items, but you'd be surprised at how many people neglect to act upon such obvious safety-related items.

The home is another area of safety risk. Do you have good locks on your doors, and if so, do you use them? Does your furnace filter need to be replaced? Are papers and other flammable materials kept away from the stove? Are any of your electrical outlets overloaded with multipliers and extension cords? There are many unsafe conditions in daily life, but most of them become truly unsafe based on our own actions related to them. What causes you to act in an unsafe way? Is it carelessness? Poor judgment? Or do you just seem to always find yourself "at the wrong place at the wrong time?"

On the average, there are 10 accidental deaths and about 1,000 disabling injuries every hour during the year. About one-half of the deaths occur in motor vehicle accidents while about one-third of the injuries occur in and around the home.

The newspapers and television stations are constantly reporting on the many tragic accidents that occur all over the country and around the world. In every case, the victim was somebody who did not plan or expect to be hurt or killed that day. It just happens. In a matter of seconds, all your plans for the future can be snuffed out. At the least, you suffer pain and inconvenience from an accident. At the worst, you and/or your loved ones can be killed.

Safety in your home is a combination of mind and matter. Your mind must be constantly aware of the dangers lurking in the home. The safety condition of your home isn't a case of rebuilding things to make them safe. It's more the disposal of dangerous items, and a case of good housekeeping. A safe home has a place for everything, and that along with the right mental attitude about keeping those things in place is just good housekeeping.

The home is the most frequent place for injury accidents to occur, and it is second only to motor vehicle accidents for the number of deaths in the country today. Family members are busier than ever rushing in and out so it's easy to understand how careless mistakes are often made. That's why you must stop long enough to develop a home safety checklist. Review your list on a regular basis and get all family members involved. Every family needs to develop its own plan because every house and every family is different. What you can't prevent, you can usually compensate for or protect against. We will cover many practical suggestions in the following sections of this guide.