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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.
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