House Rules: Good Ideas to Keep Your Home Secure and Everyone Safe

Now more than ever, it’s important to practice good safety rules in order to keep your home secure and your family safe. These rules shouldn’t just be about preventing burglaries or break-ins, but should also include practices that cover various safety risks in and around your home. Below are some key house rules that you can implement to help your household develop an overall safety-first mindset.

1. Regularly test the smoke detectors in your home.

Be sure to test your smoke alarms at least once per month. Smoke inhalation causes the majority of deaths in home fire situations, so being able to detect a fire early on is absolutely critical. The earlier you can detect a fire, the sooner you can evacuate your family to safety. Speaking of evacuation, it’s vital to practice what many fire departments call E.D.I.T.H.: Exit Drills in the Home. Be sure that your family has an emergency fire escape plan for multiple scenarios, and take some time to practice these drills so that everyone will know exactly what to do in case of a fire.

2. Keep your windows and doors locked.

Many of us have parents or grandparents who’ve told us stories of living in a time when people could keep their windows open and their doors unlocked, even at nighttime. Unfortunately, the world simply isn’t like that anymore; nowadays, burglaries and home invasions can and do happen in broad daylight. Burglars often look for the easiest access point they can find, and there’s nothing more inviting to a would-be thief than an unlocked window or door. One of the best ways to keep your doors secured is to install keyless locks, which are pick-proof and bump-proof. Keyless locks such as the Schlage FE575 will automatically lock the door behind you, so even if you forget to lock it on your way out, you’re still covered.

3. Give specific safety instructions for kids who spend part of the day home alone.

Your kids should definitely to be aware of (and practice) certain safety rules when they’re home alone. They should never open the door to someone they don’t know, no matter what the visitor may say. If the phone rings, your child should never disclose that they are home alone. Simple rules such as these will help keep your child safe while you’re not there.

4. Practice water safety around the home.

Water safety in and around the house is often overlooked, but drowning is actually the leading cause of injury-related death among children between the ages of 1 and 4. Never, ever, under any circumstances, leave your child unattended around water, even if it’s a very shallow wading pool or a bathtub with only a couple of inches of water in it. If you have a pool, it’s a good idea to install a gate with a keyless lock like the Lockey M210DC so that it can’t be opened by anyone except the person who knows the keycode. Be sure that bathtubs, wading pools, containers and buckets are emptied of all water immediately after use, and be sure to keep toilets inaccessible to young children. Although these rules may seem strict, there should be no compromise when it comes to water safety around the home.

Be sure to cover all of your bases by keeping the above tips in mind when you’re establishing your list of house rules. By doing so, you will encourage a greater environment of safety and security for you and your family.

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