Preventing Accidents in the Home – Advice & Tips

Unfortunately your home is the place where accidents are most likely to occur. Everyone should be aware of the dangers in the home so that accidents can be avoided. The purpose of this information sheet is to raise awareness of the type of accidents that may occur in the home and what steps you can take to prevent them.

Fire Safety

Fires can start suddenly and spread quickly, damaging your home and furniture and putting lives in danger. They are caused in a variety of ways, but there are a few simple hints you can follow to prevent them starting.

• Keep all fires and heaters well guarded, especially open fires. For fitted or portable heaters with a built in guard, give extra protection by adding a surrounding guard particularly if you have young children or older people in the home. For children, use a nursery guard with side clips that fit into fixed wall brackets
• Keep portable heaters and candles away from furniture and curtains. Position safely where they cannot be knocked over
• Don’t dry or air clothes over or near the fire, or the cooker
• Do not smoke in bed
• Many fires start in the kitchen, especially fat fires. Never leave a pan unattended when deep fat frying and watch for overheating. For safer frying use oven chips or a thermostatically controlled deep fat fryer
• If there are children around, keep matches and lighters well out of reach
• Fit approved smoke detectors on each floor. Choose a smoke alarm that is mains operated or one with a long life (ten year) battery
• Plan your escape route. Remember Get out, stay out and call the fire brigade out!

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Electrical Safety

Many accidents and fatalities involve electricity – it must be treated with respect. Here are some tips.

• Have your wiring installation checked at least once every five years by an approved contractor, or straightaway if you are buying an older property
• Do not use appliances with worn or damaged flexes. Don’t wire flexes together
• Keep portable mains-operated appliances out of the bathroom
• Have electric blankets serviced and checked regularly
• If an appliance appears faulty stop using it and have it checked at once
• Consider having a RCD (residual current device) for whole house protection. These are especially valuable when power tools are used
• Look for the CE mark, the BEAB mark, BS safety mark or British Standard number when you buy electrical equipment
• Never overload an electric socket.

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How to Prevent Workplace Accidents?

 

Prevent Workplace Accidents

 

Accidents occur for many reasons. Understanding why an accident happens is the first step in prevention.

Unsafe acts cause four times as many accidents and injuries as unsafe conditions. This list will cover seven behaviors that can cause workplace accidents.

Instructions

1. • Over Confidence: Having confidence is a good thing but being over confident can be dangerous. Thinking “it can never happen to me” is an attitude that can lead to improper procedures or methods used while working.

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     Ignoring Safety Procedures: Failing to observe safety procedures can endanger all workers. Rules and procedures are in place for a reason and it’s important for them to be followed. Having a casual attitude about safety rules leads to danger.

   • Shortcuts: As we try to be more efficient we tend to take shortcuts that can lead to unsafe conditions and increased chances for injuries. Will implementing a time-saving idea compromise safety? Is it worth it?

   • Not having complete instructions when starting a task: Many times a worker will be shy or intimidated about asking for better instructions and will just try to “wing it” instead of knowing exactly how to do things correctly. New employee training is a must to prevent accidents. Don’t just assume that everyone knows how to do his or her job correctly.

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     Poor Housekeeping: A well maintained work area sets a standard for all. Poor housekeeping creates all types of hazards and sets the stage for accidents. Good housekeeping encourages pride and a safe environment.

   • Mental Distractions: Doing a task safely requires mental attention. Things that distract a person from work creates a hazard and can pull focus away from tasks at hand. It’s important to stay focused and leave problems at home. Even casual conversations can be distracting.

   • Pre-Planning: Not thinking through a process to complete a task can be a hazard. Being hasty and just starting on a job without giving a thought to what how to go about it can be asking for problems. Remember the saying, “Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan.”

What Is Accident?

•  An “accident” is an unplanned, undesired event which may or may not result in injury or property damage, that interferes with the completion of an assigned task.

By Animals

Elephant Accidents With Train

• Elephant Accidents With TrainGuwahati, February 28An adult female elephant was killed and another seriously injured after a speeding goods train hit them on a railway track passing through Deepor Beel Ramsar site in the western fringe of Guwahati city in the wee hours today. According to eyewitness accounts, one female elephant was killed after being hit and dragged to some distance by the speeding train while another female elephant was seriously injured.

• The injured elephant was in advanced stage of pregnancy and gave birth to a calf immediately after the train hit it.

• The injured elephant than went inside the nearby jungle while forest officials later rescued the newborn calf from the accident site and brought it to the state zoo here. According to Northeast Frontier Railway spokesman Situsing Hajong, a goods train that was coming to Guwahati hit an adult elephant on the track along Azara-Kamakhya section while the elephant was trying to cross the track at around 4 am.There is standing instruction for trains to move at the speed of only 10 km per hour while travelling through Deepor Beel Ramsar site as it was part of an elephant movement corridor. However, eyewitnesses claimed that the train was on a high speed while hitting the elephant this morning and there was no fog in the atmosphere at that time.Another wild elephant was killed due to train-hit in the same area on May 6 last year.

•  Four wild elephants including were killed after being hit by a train in Doldoli reserve forest in Karbi Anglong hill district on January 2 this year. In fact, there has been alarming number of elephant deaths in the state due to accidents on railway tracks. According to available figures, 56 wild elephants were run over of trains in different parts of Assam in 38 accidents on tracks during the past 10 years.

This Is An Accident Caused By Wild Dear

Top 25 Causes of Car Accidents

• Getting into a car accident can lead to several unwanted consequences, including permanent injuries, loss of earnings, etc. Why not do everything you can to avoid a car accident in the first place then? Here at our San Diego personal injury law offices we would like to help you understand the causes of car accidents, and therefore help you learn preventative measures for automobile accidents.

• While some of these car accident causes may seem obvious and redundant to experienced drivers, this list aims to educate all levels of drivers, from the teenage driver who just got his license, to the senior driver with 40 years experience behind the wheel. Learning to drive a car takes many instructional hours behind the wheel, especially if that driver wants to avoid causing automobile accidents. Let our Top 25 Causes of Car Accidents be your guide towards a lifetime of car accident prevention not just in San Diego, but anywhere.

1. Distracted Driving

• The number one cause of car accidents is not a criminal that drove drunk, sped or ran a red light. Distracted drivers are the top cause of car accidents in the U.S. today. A distracted driver is a motorist that diverts his or her attention from the road, usually to talk on a cell phone, send a text message or eat food.

2. Speeding

• You’ve seen them on the highway. Many drivers ignore the speed limit and drive 10, 20 and sometimes 30 mph over the limit. Speed kills, and traveling above the speed limit is an easy way to cause a car accident. The faster you drive, the slower your reaction time will be if you need to prevent an auto accident.

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3. Drunk Driving

• When you drink, you lose the ability to focus and function properly and its very dangerous when operating a vehicle. Driving under the influence of alcohol causes car accidents every day, even when they are one the top causes that can be avoided. Always use a designated driver if you go out and drink.

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4. Reckless Driving

• If you don’t drive carefully, and you may end up in a needless car accident. That’s what often happens to reckless drivers who speed, change lanes too quickly or tailgate before causing a car accident. Reckless drivers are often impatient in traffic so be sure to take extra care around aggressive drivers.

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5. Rain

• If the weather gets bad so do the roads. Car accidents happen very often in the rain because water creates slick and dangerous surfaces for cars, trucks, and motorcycles and often causes automobiles to spin out of control or skid while braking. To avoid a car accident, drive extra careful when it rains.

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6. Running Red Lights

• When you’re driving your car, red means stop and not doing so usually leads to car accidents. Drivers that run red lights, run the risk of causing wrongful death because they often cause side-impact collisions at high speeds. To avoid a car accident, look both ways for oncoming cars as you approach a green light.

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Top Causes of Electrical Accidents

• Most electrical safety hazards can be prevented with common sense and plain, old good wiring.

• For most people, preventing an electrical accident means not plugging too many things into one feeble extension cord (which they do anyway) or not using a hair dryer while taking a bath (hopefully they don’t do this). And while these are valid and important precautions, there are many other potential electrical safety hazards in any home. Taking a look at some of the most common causes of electrical accidents can help you appreciate the considerable power (and danger) of electricity and how to use it safely.

Cords and Plugs

• According to the National Fire Protection Association (www.nfpa.org), electrical cords and plugs are responsible for the most civilian deaths related to electrical accidents each year. Yet these are among the easiest hazards to avoid: Never use a cord or plug with evidence of burning, melting or any other visible damage. If the insulation is damaged or missing, or the cord has come loose from the plug, replace the whole thing; never use a cord repaired with electrical tape.

• Extension cords (including power strips and surge protectors) are the biggest offenders in the cord category. Don’t use extension cords for permanent hookups, conceal them in any way (especially under carpeting) or expose them to water or possible damage. Always use the right cord for the job, such as 3-prong grounded cords for all appliances and tools that require grounding. Also make sure the cord’s capacity well exceeds the demand of what’s plugged into it; heavier-gauge cords can handle more current than lighter-gauge cords. Avoid using 3-prong adapters to plug grounded cords into 2-prong outlets (while theoretically possible, the chances of a true ground existing here are extremely slight).

Fixtures and Appliances

• Misuse of lamps and light fixtures is another top cause of electrical accidents. As harmless as it seems, using a 100-watt bulb in a 60-watt fixture (for example), can melt the fixture wires, creating a shock and fire hazard. The same danger exists when plugging a cord into an adapter outlet that screws into a light bulb socket. As for appliances, don’t use any device that sparks, smokes, buzzes, emits a burning smell or shows any cord damage. Unplug appliances before cleaning them. Never operate an appliance or equipment while standing in water.

Active electronic safety

Advanced safety systems that can prevent accidents and save your life

• A car’s ability to protect you and your passengers against serious injury in an accident has improved dramatically since the ‘clunk-click’ era of the 1970s. Seatbelts have only had to be fitted as standard in the front of new cars since 1967 and it wasn’t until 1983 that it eventually became compulsory to wear them. Nowadays we take seatbelts and airbags for granted while new cars increasingly feature clever electronic systems to help prevent accidents in the first place.

• Since 1997 Euro NCAP, the independent European New Car Assessment Programme has helped to bring about improvements in the design of vehicle structures which can now absorb the energy of really quite severe crash without the passenger compartment collapsing. This makes accidents much more surviveable.

• Inside the car an array of front, side, head and even knee airbags work together with the adult seat belts to protect the driver and passengers against contact with the hard structure of the vehicle’s interior. Adult seat belts typically feature pre-tensioning devices to lock and tighten the belt webbing when a crash is detected, which further protects the occupants against severe injury.

• Because of these developments, car crashes are now much more surviveable. But prevention is always better than cure so, powered by the incredible pace of development in electronics, camera and radar technology, many modern cars can prevent a crash before it happens

blind spot camera

Blind spot monitoring

• Small blind spot mirrors that you attach to the door mirror(s) have been around for years and some cars have been fitted with convex door mirrors.

• Systems that use radar or cameras to warn if there’s another vehicle in your blind spot as you start to change lanes are set to become commonplace.

Toyota lane keeping support

Traffic Rules and Safety

Fasten your seat belts 

• Car crashes are a leading cause of death. Aside from always following traffic signs and obeying the rules of the road, buckling up your safety belt may be the single most dramatic move you can make to reduce your health risks. The deaths and injuries that occur every year due to car accidents could be reduced by about half if both drivers and passengers used their safety belts. Make sure that everyone in your vehicle is strapped in, and that small children are secured in safety seats before you take off. It can save your life, and it’s the law!

• On a warm day, the temperature inside a car can shoot up in minutes – even if the windows are partially open.. Even if it is not so hot outside, the danger of overheating exists – especially if you have a dark-colored car. Don’t leave pets or children unattended.

Do Not Drink and Drive

• Young people in particular are at high risk for auto accidents. Adding alcohol to the situation is sheer insanity. Alcohol is the major cause of fatal car crashes caused by human error. People are killed on the road every day because they or others had alcohol-impaired judgment or reflexes. If death doesn’t scare you, how about disability? Drunk driving results in hundreds of thousands of injuries including lifetime disability from brain damage, paralysis, blindness, or amputated or deformed limbs.

HAVE A CLEAR HEAD

• Make sure you always have a clear head before deciding to operate a motor vehicle. Alcohol and certain drugs, both illegal and legal, can severely impair your driving skills. Many prescription and over-the-counter medications can cause dangerous drowsiness. Get a good night’s rest and don’t drive for long stretches without a break. If you are tired, don’t risk the safety of yourself and others on the highway by trying to drive. Just as with alcohol–designate a driver or choose another means of transportation such as taxi cab or public transportation.

Next: Do’s and Dont’s of Driving

DONT

• Drive Alone When Tired

• Go Far Beyond Speed Limits

• Obstruct the Path of Emergency Vehicles e.g. Ambulance, Police Van etc.

• Leave unattended cheque books, credit cards, or other such articles. Lock valuables in the trunk.

DO Plan Ahead:

• You will be more relaxed and prepared for the drive.

• Keep Eyes on the Road

• Have No Tensions While Driving

• Care for Fellow Riders who Share the Road with You

• Obey The Traffice Signals

• Yield the right-of-way at intersections

• SLOW DOWN and be prepared to STOP on Yellow Light. Don’t Rush

• Give the right of way to emergency vehicles

• Keep a safe distance from the car ahead of you

• Carry your vehicle registration with you

• Give proper signals well ahead of time to let others know what you are going to

Srilankas first Highway Accident (Road Accident)

Srilankas First Highway 

• The Srilankas First Highway Opens @ 27  nov  2012

• The four-lane highway links the island’s southern port city of Galle with Colombo and has eight entry points at Kahathuduwa, Gelanigama, Dodamgoda, Welipenna, Kurundugaha Hethekma, Baddegama and Pinnaduwa. Sri Lankan government also plans to develop eight new townships along the road where the entry/exit points of the expressway are located. New fuel stations and other infrastructure are now being developed in these towns.

• The maximum speed on the highway is set at 100 Km per hour enabling the motorists to reach Galle in approx an hour.

• In the second phase of the development the expressway will be extended to Matara. The segment from Galle to Matara is sceduled to open for public in 2013, Also preliminary plans to extend the Southern expressway up to Hambantota and Kataragama have been finalized.

 

Srilankas First Highway Accident

• The first accident on the Southern Expressway occurred  November 28 at 7.15am when a speeding vehicle toppled over injuring two persons, the Kelanigama Police stated.

• The vehicle was unable to control its speed causing it to topple making it the first accident on the expressway since it was declared open yesterday (November 27) by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

                                                                                             

Water Accident (In Srilanka)

         1600 die in water related accidents every year

• About 1600 people die every year in Sri Lanka in water related accidents says the General Secretary of Life Saving Association of Sri Lanka W.M. Bandula.

• Speaking at a seminar held at Ibbankatuwa Tank at Dambulla Mr. Bandula said proper training in life saving many could save many lives specially in water related accidents. He said the intention of his organization is to train people in saving lives.