Make Sure Your Home is Fully Secure

Consider the following measures to take to ensure your home’s security:

• Change all the locks when you buy a new home.
• Add deadbolt locks and window locks where necessary.
• Consider getting a security system. Your property insurance rate may be lower if you have one.
• Use outdoor lighting. You can get lights that turn on automatically every evening or motion sensor lights that come on when someone walks by. However, use outdoor lighting judiciously to be more energy-efficient.
• When you are away from home, use lights and radios on automatic timers and arrange to have your mail and newspapers picked up or discontinued. This way, people won’t be able to tell you are not home.
• Get to know your neighbours and watch for each other.

Be Prepared and Stay Safe

Please have a fire evacuation plan and ensure everyone in your home knows how to get out of the house from each room in case of a fire. If you have a second floor, you need a particular escape plan to get to the ground. Although doors and windows should always be securely locked, you must be able to open them in an emergency. Could you check to see if the windows have not been painted shut?

Here are a few tips:

Fire extinguishers must be easily accessible at all times. If you have a two-storey home, there should be one on each floor. Remember to check your fire extinguishers at least once a year. To help you remember, make a habit of doing it when you set your clocks to Daylight Saving Time.

In some areas, having smoke detectors in your home is legally required. You will still want them in your home, even if they are not. Could you check the batteries at least once a year? Carbon monoxide detectors are also essential to have. They will let you know if there are high levels of carbon monoxide in your home and can save you from illness or death. Check them at least once a year to ensure they are working correctly. It is a good idea to check your fire extinguishers, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors at the same time.

Paper, paint, chemicals and other clutter can be a fire hazard. Never put them in the garbage. Could you make sure they are stored in a safe place? If you no longer need them, hazardous materials must be disposed of at a community toxic waste center.

Collect your important papers and store them in a safe place — a fireproof box or a safety deposit box.

Please keep a list of emergency phone numbers (including 911, poison prevention line, doctors, relatives, neighbours and friends) close to the phone and make sure your children know about it.

Source: Published on behalf of an Adviceon Client.