With children and elderly people in the house, bathroom safety becomes very important. This article focuses on some tips that can help prevent accidents in the bathroom.
It would be perfectly okay to say that out of all the rooms in your house, the most dangerous and accident-prone has to be the bathroom. With hard and wet floors, it becomes absolutely necessary to take care. Not only this, it is also the place where you store all your cleaning products, which are poisonous and harmful and should ideally be kept away from the kids. The bathroom sinks, the bathtub, and the toilet are made from porcelain, chrome or tile, which again become dangerous if you fall and hit yourself over it. The combination of all the above makes this small room, potentially dangerous for all your family members. This article tells you how to stay safe and avoid mishaps.
Grab Bars
Grab bars are installed for securing your balance. They are secured horizontally or vertically on the walls of the bathroom near the shower and bathtub area and even closer to the toilet. They assist in getting out of the tub, getting up from the commode, and also aides you in walking when the floor is wet. These bars become necessary to ensure safety for the elderly and children. Do not install these grab bars in a diagonal position, this will not support your weight, and hence will beat the entire purpose. If you want, you can also install a bathtub bar on the side of the bathtub for extra balance and safety. The look of your bathroom will not be compromised with these safety bars as they are available in a huge variety which will match your needs and the bathroom decor too!
Toilets
Commodes, being low in height, can be difficult for the elderly to use. The clamp-on toilet seat not only raises the height of the toilet, but also has arms on its side which assist in easy sitting and getting up from the toilet seat. Using a commode chair also reduces the probability of accidents that may be caused due to the low toilet heights. A grab bar close to the toilet will also help. Children love to play in the water. They get very fascinated with the water in the toilet too. This increases their chances of getting stuck in the toilet, or worse drowning in it. Toilet seat locks is another safety feature that can be added to the bathroom.
Garbage Cans
The chances of stumbling down on the bathroom floor because the garbage bin got in your way are way too high. Keep it under the wash basin so that it does not get in your way. Hazardous things like medications, discarded razor blades, cans of cleaning materials, etc., are thrown in the garbage cans. Children can’t contain their curiosity when it comes to bins and cans. Hence, it is vital to supervise your child and throw all these harmful materials in those cans that are out of their reach.
Electrical Appliances
Water and electricity never go hand in hand. Water is always present in the bathroom. Don’t leave your appliances like hairdryer, shaving razor, etc., anywhere close to the water. Also turn off the electricity and unplug the appliances, after using them, to prevent dangerous accidents. Install plastic plugs into the sockets so that the children are safe.
Medicine Cabinets
Another potential source of danger is the medicine storage in the bathroom. Install medical cabinets in places that are out of reach of children. For further child safety, install child locks on these cabinets. Storing the medications in bottles with child proof caps, is another way to practice precaution. Dispose off all the medication that has expired so that you or any other elderly person does not take them unknowingly.
Cleaning Supplies
Keep the cleaning supplies for bathroom cleaning, on a high shelf to keep it away from the children. Don’t build this shelf too high, or you yourself might end up falling down while trying to grab it. If you can, install a grab bar under this shelf so that you can hold on to it while accessing the shelf.
Keep a mop handy in the bathroom and dry the tiles after every time the bathroom is used. This will ensure that the number of accidents due to slipping on wet bathroom floor is minimized. If you have kids and old people staying with you at your house, don’t leave the bathroom unsupervised for too long.
