How to Assess a Home for Potential Hazards During an Emergency

A home can become a death trap during an emergency. Unsecured water heaters can fall loose during an earthquake and scald your family. Leaking gas lines can explode if even a small fire breaks out. For these reasons, you should assess your home for potential hazards during an emergency. With just a few precautions, you can drastically reduce the damage an emergency can cause.

Instructions

Assess Your Home for Emergency Hazards

• 1

  Walk through your house with a pen and paper and write down potential emergency hazards.

• 2

  Look for heavy mirrors or paintings hanging on the walls. During an emergency, they can swing off the walls and injure you. Pay special attention to things hanging over your bed.

• 3

  Check your water heater to see whether it is secure.

• 4

  Read your fire extinguishers to see whether they need to be recharged or replaced. Dead extinguishers can allow a small fire to become a major one.

• 5

  Inspect your chimney (inside and out). Blocked flues can cause carbon-monoxide poisoning, and loose bricks can fall and injure you.

• 6

  Test your ability to locate and turn off the utilities. Broken electrical connections create electrocution hazards.

• 7

  Keep an eye out for glass and ceramic knick-knacks. During an earthquake or hurricane, these curios become potential razor blades.

• 8

  Ask the gas company to check for gas leaks. The gas company provides this service for free.

Make Your Home Emergency Ready

• 9

  Secure your water heater to the wall so that it doesn't become disconnected during an earthquake or other emergency. Water heater bracing systems are easy to install and can be found at all hardware stores.

• 10

  Use eye-hole screws to hang mirrors. An eye-hole screw has a round opening on the end that you can run the wire on the mirror's back through to prevent it from falling.

• 11

  Hire a professional chimney sweep to properly clean your flues. Soot buildup can create a fire hazard.

• 12

  Secure curios to their cabinets with double-sided tape to hold them in place during emergencies. Dental floss can hold small items in place without damaging your cabinets.

• 13

  Keep flashlights and shoes next to your bed. Running barefoot in the dark is a hazard.