“On Your Own” Home Safety Checklist

Telephone

• List important numbers beside each telephone and/or program them in. You can print and fill out a form like this one.
• Equip your phone with an answering device or service so it can take messages.
• Have a phone with caller I.D. Tell your child to answer the phone only for specific callers. Let the phone take a message for all others.
• Install a wireless home monitoring system that will alert you to when your child returns home. Receive these alerts to your cell phone, office phone, BlackBerry or email. Adding a video camera can provide an extra layer of security so you can be aware even when you are not there.

Security

• Provide secure locks for all doors and windows.
• Store matches, lighters, medications, household cleaners, and other toxic substances in a safe place. Make sure they are clearly labelled and in their original containers.
• Lock up alcoholic beverages, and check to make sure they do not mysteriously disappear.
• Store firearms and ammunition separately and under lock and key.
• Use light timers so your child doesn’t come home to a dark house.

Fire Safety

• You must have a smoke alarm on each level of the house (or for homes on one level, near the kitchen and all bedrooms). Test them to make sure they all work.
• Replace any broken electrical cords and use no more than two plugs per outlet.
• Keep your hot water heater below 60 C to prevent scalding.

First Aid

• box of different-sized bandages for small cuts;
• sterile gauze pad for larger cuts, with adhesive tape to hold it and small scissors to cut the tape;
• tweezers to remove slivers;
• peroxide to clean cuts and cotton balls to apply it; and
• digital thermometer to check for fever.

Power Outages

• Keep a flashlight or two (and extra batteries) handy.
• Provide a few items that can run on batteries, e.g. radio, clock, electronic games.