Cleaning Up Broken Glass

When you’re ready to begin cleaning up, a broom and vacuum cleaner will provide the quickest and best results. On hard floor surfaces, sweep as much of the broken glass as you can find into a pile and carefully remove the largest pieces into a rubbish bin. It may help to dust the area lightly with baking soda or baby powder to keep the smallest fragments of broken glass from sticking to your floor or your broom’s bristles.

Because of the chemical composition of water and glass, you may find that a wet paper towel is an excellent way to collect small pieces that might otherwise get away from a broom. Wipe the surface, starting with the far reaches of the glass bits, in toward the centre of the impact, being very careful not to handle the side of the paper towel that has been on the floor.

When the largest pieces have been removed, sweep as much as possible of the remnants into a dustpan and dispose of it in the trash can. If your vacuum cleaner has a hose cleaningattachment, use it on all surfaces where you may have previously seen any broken glass. Remember that some types of glass can shatter and scatter. For instance, a broken light bulb can scatter pieces of broken glass several feet from impact, so be thorough. Also, using an upright vacuum cleaner on hard surfaces may cause the debris to further scatter, so repeat cleaning with your broom or disengage the brush roller on your upright.

Drilling Into Walls – Electrical Safety

It will seem obvious to state that you should never work on anything electrical that is conductive, or live, without first disabling it, but let’s face it, even the best of us get lazy once in awhile. We get tempted to grab that fallen piece of banana bread by sticking a fork into the toaster without first unplugging it. Yes, you know you did something stupid like that once, before you thought better of it.

In any situation where you need to make an electrical repair, first disable the power supply. Few people realize that this is also true before you drill into ceilings or walls—you may hit a wire without knowing it, so shut off power at your circuit box before you drill. Keep a flashlight near your breaker box so you can see what you’re doing.

Children & Building Sites

The following practical advice for parents and will help keep children safe this summer:

• warn children against playing in dangerous areas, including building sites;
• make sure you know where your children are going, and when they will be back;
• encourage them to play only in safe areas such as playgrounds

The example below demonstrates just how easy it is for children to be killed/injured during construction projects:-

A two-year old child fell 30ft from scaffold placed around social housing. He received life threatening head injuries. The scaffold had been erected to replace windows and carryout other refurbishment work on a block of flats in north London.

A nine year-old boy was killed and another injured when they were crushed by a heavy steel water pipe being rolled by a group of children. Pipes were being stored in an area open to the public, whilst awaiting installation. They were not fenced off and had not been adequately secured to stop them being rolled.

Smoke Alarms

Your smoke alarm should be tested once a month. Just get Mom or Dad to press the test button to see if it works.

If your smoke alarm runs on batteries, they need to be replaced at least once a year. Pick a day, any day of the year, maybe even your own birthday, and for a present, give your smoke alarm fresh juice.

Have a look around your house. You should have at least 1 working smoke alarm on every floor, and at least one outside each sleeping area.

Kitchen Safety

If you’re called away from the cooker – by the phone, or by someone at the door – take pans off the heat. It’s the easiest thing in the world to forget about them.

Keep the oven door shut.

Always clean the grill pan after using it.

Don’t let yourself be distracted whilst cooking.

Don’t put oven gloves or tea towels down on the cooker after you’ve used them.

Don’t cook if you’re affected by alcohol or prescription drugs.

Keep electrical leads away from the cooker and water

Water Butt Safety Lid

Harcostar Child Safety Lid For Water Containers

Remember our previous article about water butt safety? Well, we have found a product that can help you keep children safe and stop them falling into any water butt.

Manufacturer’s Description
The child safety lid can be fitted to all water butts that have a diameter of 380-385mm. It helps give peace of mind when storing rain water and will also prevent pets and wildlife from displacing the lid too.

The Harcostar water storage system is manufactured in the United Kingdom using recycled material for all their containers. All accessories are designed to be fitted easily to the new water storage containers.

Ladder Stay

 

Ladder Stand Off/Ladder Stay with Wheels and ‘V’ Notch for corners [Misc.]

We have found a very useful product that will keep you safe when you are using a ladder at home.

Wheels that assist in running up the wall and stop sideways slip

A central vee-notch which enables the ladder to be used on corners

Electric Socket Covers

These sturdy plastic Electric Socket Covers are so easy to fit, and once in place they will prevent grandchildren gaining access to the electric sockets in your home. They also secure your essential appliances such as fridges, freezers and computers from being switched off or unplugged either accidentally or mischievously.

Simple Security at Home
There’s no need for an electrician: all you need to do is fit the Electric Socket Cover over your double wall socket – just loosen the screws, slide the cover into place, and tighten the screws up again. The spring loaded front will flip open when you turn the key, giving you access to your plugs, then clicks shut to lock.

• Easy to fit
• Comes with 2 keys
• Fits double socket
• Strong construction
• 2 Year guarantee

Availble at: http://www.50plushealth.co.uk/index.cfm

Child Safety Blanking Plugs

These are designed to protect young children from inserting their fingers in to live 240 volt plug sockets, these blanking plugs are a must for any conscientious parent or guardian. The blanking plugs sit securely in the socket to make it difficult for young children to pull them out, yet not so tight as to prevent access to the socket by adult hands.

UKayed Safety plug protectors 10 pack- protects childrens fingers from plug sockets £1.99

WA45 UK safety plugs, set of 5 – blister £3.49

Water-Jel Technologies

Hi John,

I just stumbled across your website and thought you would be interested in the following.

Please let me know if you’d like a sample of Burn Jel Plus (made by Water-Jel Technologies which is used by firefighters and EMS workers). This product is perfect to keep around in case of accidental burns.

Thanks,

Amy

 —–

Exclusive Supplier of Burn Care Products to the U.S. Military Delivers Safe and Effective Treatment for At-Home Use

When a household burn occurs, every second counts Doctors warn patients, especially parents, to be prepared!

It can happen in the brief moment you look away from the stove, or answer the phone while running a bath.  Every 25 seconds someone in the United States is burned or scalded in their home, according to the American Burn Association and the Burn Foundation, with more than two million burn injuries reported each year in this country.  Children under five years old most frequently experience burn injuries in the kitchen, with the bathroom being the second most common area.  Hot water scalds are the leading cause of accidental death in the home for children under five and account for 60% of the burn injuries in children under 14. 

The statistics are sobering, yet many people know little about treating burns or are prepared with appropriate first aid materials in their homes.  Fortunately, Water-Jel Technologies, the world’s leading provider of professional burn treatments used most by EMS workers, has developed Burn Jel Plus, an effective and easy-to-use over-the-counter treatment for minor burns.

Using the same water-based, water-soluble technology as Water-Jel’s professional products, Burn Jel Plus also contains Lidocaine for fast-acting pain relief.  It provides controlled cooling of the burn site by acting as a heat exchanger.  Burns are an evolving injury in which tissue damage can increase until the burn temperature is lowered enough to stop the burn process.  Burn Jel Plus is particularly efficient at lowering the temperature of a burn because heat is released through the outer surface of the gel and into the air, resulting in rapid heat transfer out of the wound. 

“It is essential to quickly and consistently cool the area when a child gets burned,” says Dr. Daniel Rifkin, a pediatrician at Penn State Children’s Hospital, assistant professor of pediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine, and former volunteer firefighter. “Even simple burns from hot water or coffee can lead to ongoing skin injury if the heat is not removed rapidly.”

As anyone who has run their hand under cold water after a burn can testify, that method has its limitations. When heat is transferred from the wound through evaporation of the water, the surface temperature lowers. But heat emanating from deep within the burn rises to counteract the cooling effect of the evaporating liquid, which then requires a new application of water. This explains why the relief from holding a burn under a running faucet is only temporary.

“You can hold a hand under a faucet, but how do you hold a knee or shoulder or face of a child under running water if he is too big to lift?” asks Dr. Rifkin. He also warns “using a wet paper towel is impractical and ineffective as it heats up quickly and valuable time is lost while you’re re-soaking it.  Other home remedies such as butter, ointments and creams may even exacerbate the wound because they cause more damage by trapping heat in the burned skin and creating a risk for infection.  Ice, butter, or other food substances should also never be applied to a burn.”

Burn Jel Plus can safely be applied to the face or other skin surfaces. It is now widely available across the country at stores including CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Wal-Mart at the suggested retail price $8.99.

For more information visit: www.BurnJelPlus.com

About Water-Jel Technologies 

For over 25 years Water-Jel Technologies has been the leader in the burn care industry.  The company is the exclusive supplier to the U.S. military and Water-Jel products have been used everywhere from battlefields to oil refineries to manufacturing and utility facilities throughout the United States and the world.  When covering the London bombings of 2005, TIME Magazine pictured a victim on the cover with a Water-Jel product on her face. Water-Jel products are standard supplies for emergency medical technicians around the world.