For any individual, there is always something nostalgic about the place ‘home’. It is considered to be heaven on earth where you create everlasting memories with your friends and family. Buying a home can be a matter of immense pride and happiness. But it also requires a strong commitment to ensuring adequate safety measures to the place where you feel most secure. In order to make your home a comfortable place to live in, here are a few fire safety tips which can you can incorporate in your daily life.
- Kitchen Safety: Gas cylinders or pipelines occupy an integral part of your kitchen, and it is highly important to protect these from any kind of leakage. Proper maintenance plays a crucial role in avoiding potential risks of gas leaks. First and foremost, get a thorough check-up of your gas appliances with the help of a qualified technician from the gas company. Do not place combustible materials such as spray repellants, varnish, and paints adjacent to gas cylinders or pipelines. If you undertake any kind of digging work in the building, then make sure your pipelines are intact without any damage. It is always desirable to close the valve of the cylinder whenever you are leaving home for a long time. This will prevent leakage of gas in the home.
- Electrical Safety: Maintain a routine check on the electric cords and wiring of your home. Repair the damaged chords right away in order to avoid overload and short circuits. The electric outlets must not be overloaded with too many appliances connected to it. Additionally, always unplug all the appliances when not in use. Operation of electrical equipment and smart appliances such as hair dryers and radios must be prohibited near a bathtub or a sink full of water. As far as possible, limit the use of extension cords. Make sure you use a cord which is in accordance with the strength of the appliance.
- Emergency Evacuation Plan: Draft a fire safety evacuation plan as per the configuration of your building. This process requires quite an amount of research and planning. Try to have two exit routes for every room. Even though a doorway is a preferred option, windows can be a plan B. If there are kids and elderly people, make sure you incorporate their needs into the plan. Assign a person to take care of them in case of an emergency. Keep your plan as realistic as possible and practice it with all your family members twice a year. Fire safety precautions are one of the important amenities to look for in a premium apartment, so make a wise decision.
- Fire Extinguishers and Smoke Detectors: Fire extinguishers and smoke detectors are two of the vital home security features to keep your family safe. Create awareness among your family members on its mechanism so that they can implement it during emergencies. Fire extinguishers can be classified into three: A, B and C. A can be used for household items such as clothes, papers and wood, B for oil and gasoline and C is ideally used for electrical applications. It is not advisable to use extinguishers for each and every kind of fire. Remember they should only be used for fires that are of very low intensity. Smoke detectors are considered to be the most effective devices for fire accidents at home. Ideally, smoke detectors are installed in every bedroom outside of the sleeping area. After you install a smoke detector, it is always important to check its functionality. Ionisation smoke detectors are good at detecting flaming fires whereas photoelectric detectors function well for smouldering fires. However, make sure you replace the batteries of your detectors once a year for smooth operation.
- Child Safety: There are a few critical points that you need to teach your kids apart from training them on the fire evacuation plan. Firstly, train them on the ‘Stop, Drop and Roll’ technique. In case of an emergency, tell them to pause, sprawl and roll on the ground using woollen blankets. Secondly, in order to avoid asphyxiation, make them crawl through doorways. Instruct them not to open doors if they are hot. Additionally, make sure materials such as matchsticks and candles are kept away from the reach of the children. Instruct children to avoid playing with electrical equipment and plug points. In case of any fire hazard, never leave the child alone without an adult. Instruct toddlers and young kids to stay at least 3 feet away from any vulnerable source of the fire.
Make sure you follow these safety tips in order to have a comfortable stay at your happy place. You can also check out our detailed blog on how to make your apartment monsoon ready this season to protect your heavenly abode. If you are looking out to invest in properties in the prime localities of Chennai, then head out to Lancor.