Things you should do to make your garage child-safe
Young children liven up the atmosphere in our homes. However, their presence should also implore us to make our homes child-safe to every extent possible. Children are by nature curious and their curiosity often leads them to places and into situations that may prove dangerous. Installing grills in the backyard, guards on sharp edges and safety gates on stairs are some safety mechanisms you can adopt. However, most of us ignore one place in our homes that can be dangerous for a child; a garage.
The garage is a place that should under most circumstances be out of bounds for kids. In addition to vehicles, a garage may store dangerous items like sharp tools, inflammable substances, and heavy objects, all of which can pose a danger to your child’s health. Here are a few tips on how you can make this part of your house child-safe.
Cleaning the clutter
Sounds obvious? Not really! Garages to most of us is a place to stash away useful and not-so-useful stuff. So we dump it and forget it. So the first step to making the garage child-safe is clearing the clutter. When you remove the unnecessary items, it will free up space to keep the useful things properly and out of the reach of children.
Proper Storage
There are several garden tools, screws, and other implements that are loosely stored in the garage. Kids can use them, fall on them inadvertently, or put them in the mouth. To avoid all such scenarios, invest in buying high racks or building concrete slabs at a significant height from the ground so that such tools and implements, along with things like pesticides and disinfectants can be stored and stacked away from the reach of the children. In some rare instances, kids may still, out of curiosity use a stool or counter to reach such places. If you foresee such a possibility, install lockable cabinets.
Check the garage doors
A garage door and all other doors and windows are prone to rust. While it may not be a problem for adults, smaller kids can easily harm themselves with jagged edges caused due to rust. If your garage door is operated manually, ensure that it is properly locked when not in use and when it is open, it does not have the tendency to sway. Even automatic doors need to be checked if they are working as intended. Make sure that the switch to operate the automatic door is away from the reach of the kids. If any of these doors and windows are not working properly, get them repaired, painted, and lubricated. If the garage has a roll-up door, check that the channels for each of its panels have a rubber cushioning strip that prevent the fingers from getting crushed.
Miscellaneous checks
Store the ladders in horizontal position so that kids can’t climb them. Don’t leave the ropes lying around, especially suspended from the hooks. If there are any containers that can’t be kept elsewhere, ensure they are properly closed and locked down. Keep the car doors locked at all times so that kids can’t get inside the car.
With these small precautions, Doors 4 U Garage Doors can ensure that kids stay safe even if they somehow find their way inside a garage.