A Guide to Home Security and Safety Surveys

Your home is where you retreat from the busyness of everyday life and spend time with family and friends. You want to feel secure there. One of the best ways to safeguard your family is to conduct a home security survey. With a home safety questionnaire, you can identify safety issues in your house and around your property and then proactively address potential dangers in your home before they cause problems.

How to conduct a home security survey

What’s involved in conducting a home safety survey? Basically, it’s a checklist to take you through your home, room by room, critically examining each space for potential safety issues.

Here is a list of actions you can take to ensure your residence is free of hazards and designed to alert you in case of fire or other dangers:

• Place (and check) smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors (including batteries and expiration dates) in every room.

• Develop a fire escape plan for each member of your family.

• Store all medications properly so they are not accessible to young family members.

• Check the condition of electric cords to make sure they are not running under carpets and are not frayed.

• Clean your clothes dryer venting system regularly and check the lint filter after every load of laundry.

• Ensure all home appliances are plugged in properly and that you are not over-using extension cords.

• Arrange for annual cleaning and maintenance of furnaces and chimneys.

• Dispose of barbecue ashes properly to reduce fire risk.

Top causes of unintentional injuries

Use your home security survey to make sure you or a family member don’t become victims of unintentional injury. Given that almost 170,000 people die from unintentional injury-related deaths in the United States each year, it’s important that you evaluate your home for potential hazards.. Leading causes of accidental death in the home include the following:

• Unintentional poisoning

• Falls

• Choking and suffocation

• Drowning

• Fires and burns

• Natural and environmental incidents

Don’t become one of the statistics. By going through your home safety survey, you’ll eliminate many of the hazards that can lead to accidental injuries.

Protect yourself, your family, and your property

Brinks Home™ can help you protect your family and property with home security systems that monitor for fire, smoke, and carbon monoxide and also protect you from unwanted intruders. Monitored home security systems provide a higher level of protection than non-monitored systems. Contact a Brinks Home senior security consultant to learn more about installing or upgrading your home security system.

Jason Stevens is a senior writer for Brinks Home. He is a "tech guy" who enjoys sharing home security and automation tips with others.