Why do we as a society ignore the most basic safety issues until its too late. Manufacturers of everything from kitchen stoves and garage door openers, to smoke alarms package their equipment with owners manuals that address how it should be installed and what maintenance will be needed. These manuals are rarely read and their contents forgotten until there is a disaster, a home fire or injury.
The kitchen stove comes with an anti tilt bracket that attaches to the floor and prevents the stove tipping over if a three year old climbs up on an open oven door.
The garage door opener has exact measurements for the height the safety beam should be installed above the floor (between four and six Inches) and how the contact safety sensor should be set up so the door reverses and opens if it comes in contact with anything while closing.
Smoke alarm manufacturers suggest new batteries once a year and a time to replace the unit (usually ten years).
Approximately twenty one percent of deaths from a house fires are the result of dead batteries in the smoke alarms.
Your spouse, children, pets are surly worth more than a packet of AA batteries.
As home inspectors we see at least two out of these three simple safety features; not installed, uninstalled, bypassed, damaged or just not functioning “every day”.
There are so many good reasons for safety to be a part of your seasonal check up.
There are more than thirty thousand injures every year just involving garage doors.
Do yourself a favor when getting a new appliance, find owners manual,
give it a quick glance and see if there is a safety setting you need to address.
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