Bathroom Safety - Not Something To Overlook

Is your bathroom safe? Are you sure? The only reason I ask is that because a recent study has shown that one of the most neglected aspects of home safety is that of bath safety. Looking at it logically it makes sense - when in your bathroom you're surrounded by water, slippy tiles and and all kinds of accessories and items that could quite easily cause injury were you to fall against or on them. Believe it or not you're more likely to have an accident in your bathroom than any other room in your home. Anybody who has slipped in their shower when they least expected it can associate with this. The smallest slip in awareness or caution can result in a much more painful slip. The overall lack of awareness of bath safety basically leaves most home bathrooms being accidents waiting to happen.

Avoid Slipping

Water is a lubricant of sorts and the fact that you're willing to walk around on it with bare, naked feet means that we're increasing the risk of personal injury 100%. Even when taking a shower or bath many people are unlikely to use either a shower mat or slippers whilst walking around on a layer of soap and water (incredibly slippy). Granted many new bath and shower units come with specially etched floor surfaces that are there to prevent any form of slippage. Regardless of this being present or not you should be taking adequate precautions to make sure you're not going to slip and fall in the shower - people are killed in fatal bathroom falls every single day.

Next look at the actual bathroom floor itself. What type of surface is there? If you're using tiles then look for something to coat them with to prevent them becoming glass-like deathtraps. If you can't find something to coat them with then make sure you use rubber backed bathrugs to cover the main areas of the floor - especially near the sink itself. There's always the options of recovering the bathroom floor with perhaps a tough industrial carpet (not very attractive) or at least a surface that is far more safe than just standard floor tiles. Your local home decor or DIY store will be able to offer far more advice on this issue.

Fixture Safety

Finally have a look at the various fixtures, fitting and accessories that litter the bathroom. Shelves, taps, nozzles and other furniture. The vast majority of bathrooms are designed with form and aesthetics as opposed to functionality and safety. You'll notice taps with pointed eges, mirrors with no surround or shatterproof coating etc. The fixtures in bathrooms are the ones most often responsible for head injuries and are therefore one of the single biggest concerns that you need to address in your new drive for bath safety.

You owe it to yourself and your family to review just how safe your bathroom is (or isn't for that matter). You'll be amazed when you actually look at it with open eyes to see those potential dangers spring out in front of you.