How to Prevent Living Rooms Accidents

You should be able to relax in your living room without having to worry about safety. The main risk of injury is from fire (or the combination of fire and water); make sure double-glazed windows can be opened easily in case of fire.

The hazards

Fire

Guard both open fires and wall-mounted heaters well. In some coun­tries it is illegal to leave a child under twelve alone in a room with an un­guarded fire. If you have children, use a fireguard that is fixed to the wall on either side of the fire. If you sift ashes after a real fire, wear gloves and keep children out of the way.

Check for fire-retardant labels when buying furniture. Never buy polyurethane foam mixtures for cushions or upholstered furniture: if they catch fire, dangerous toxic fumes will be released within minutes. You can have polyurethane foam specially treated or covered with treated upholstery material, but the best thing to do is banish it entirely.

Wires and cables

Keep electric flexes and telephone wires short so that they do not trip people up. If necessary, add extra outlets. It is dan­gerous to lay wires under carpets as damage to the cables may cause a fire.

Televisions

Never tamper with a television set your­self. Taking the back off one can be more dangerous than you thought: some of the 20,000 volts generated by a colour television can remain in the set for a few days after it has been switched off. Professional repairers have special machines which discharge the volts. Do not place a vase of flowers or any water-holding container on top of a television: if it tips over it could cause an electrical fire. Always switch a television off at the socket after use: they have been known to cause a fire in an electrical storm.

Children

Coffee tables should be child-friendly with rounded corners and low enough for a child not to be able to crawl under. Glass table tops are dangerous to child­ren, as are matches, pins, cigarettes, needles and other sharp or hot objects left lying on a table. Keep vases, delicate china, glass ornaments or any precious objects out of the way of children.

Make sure children cannot get into your drinks cupboard: even a little al­cohol can be dangerous to a child.

Working positions

If you sit at a desk all day long it is very important that you take care of your body. Eat well and move about and try to go for a walk at some time.

Notice how you are sitting, especially when typing or writing. Are you hunched over or cramped up? Are your shoulders tense or relaxed? It is most important that a chair gives your body proper support. Buy one on which the height and back angle can be adjusted to your own requirements.

If you can arrange to work in natural light, do so: it is better for your eyes. If you do close-up work, exercise your eyes by looking into the distance every now and again. If you work on a personal computer or a word processor, look away from the screen every twenty minutes for at least thirty seconds.

Some materials connected with the office, such as glue and fixatives, are health hazards and give off unnatural smells. Typewriter correction fluids also contain a chemical which damages the atmosphere. Always keep the window open if you have to use them and avoid using solvent-based glue.