How to Choose (and Use) Safe Products for Your Family

 

There is no guaranteed way to ensure that all the products in your home are perfectly safe. Here are some considerations, although this is not a complete checklist:

Toys

• Always make sure a toy is rated for the appropriate age range of your child.
• Check the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s list of recalled toys and join a mailing list to keep up-to-date.  Recalls can be viewed at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html
• Avoid toys with strings longer than seven inches, toys with sharp edges, toys that produce loud noises, and damaged or broken toys.
• Consider buying a small parts tester, which measures whether a small part can become lodged in the throat of a child aged 3 or younger.

• More information about Unsafe Toys.

Household Cleaning Products

Many household products contain strong chemicals that can irritate the skin, respiratory system and other biological functions. Some considerations:

• Avoid organic solvents.
• Avoid overdoing disinfection products.
• As the label says, keep out of the reach of children.

Choking and Suffocation Risks

• Keep cribs away from windows.
• Cut up, tie up, or use a loop fastener to secure hanging blind loops.
• Keep small objects away from children.
• Safety Gates
• Ensure that the gates meet current safety standards.
• Ensure that gates are installed according to directions.
• Use spring-loaded gates at the bottom of stairs, and wall-fastened gates at the top.
• Scalds and Burns
• Put anti-scald devices on faucets and reset your hot water heater to 120 degrees.
• Keep pots and pans on the back burners and turn handles inward.
• Keep electrical outlets covered.

Drowning

• Always stay with your child during baths.
• Home swimming pools should be surrounded by a barrier with a gate that’s self-latching and has an inside latch.

Car Safety

• Make sure the car seat is appropriate for your child’s weight and size.
• Use rear-facing seats for children younger than 1 year or weighing less than 20 pounds.
• Use forward-facing toddler seats for children age 1 or 20 pounds to age 4 and 40 pounds.
• Use booster seats from age 4 until at least age 8, unless at least 4 foot 9 inches tall.
• Use safety belts at age 9 and older or taller than 4 foot 9.
• Children age 12 and younger should ride in the back seat.

Ladder Safety

• Always make sure you’re familiar with the instructions for your ladder.
• Use the right ladder for the job.
• Inspect your ladder before use.
• Set your ladder so that its base is one-quarter of the extended length away from the wall.
• The top of the ladder is not a shelf.

Tool Safety

• If using electrical tools, always place cables behind you and don’t allow them to become frayed, and don’t operate in wet or damp conditions.
• Do not adjust, clean or use electrical tools while they are plugged in.
• Get in the habit of unplugging and putting away electrical tools as soon as you are done with them.
• Keep tools out of the reach of children or lock them away.
• Keep tool storage areas tidy to avoid accidents.

The PA product liability lawyers at Munley Munley & Cartwright hope that you have only safe experiences with the everyday household products you buy. But if you or a loved one have been injured by a dangerous and defective product, you deserve compensation for your medical costs, your lost wages, and your pain and suffering. For a free consultation on your Pennsylvania dangerous product case, call us at 1-800-318-LAW1 or contact our Pennsylvania injury attorneys online.

At Munley, Munley & Cartwright, our Pennsylvania defective product attorneys work to provide exceptional legal services to our clients. We strive to achieve the highest standard of excellence for the protection of individual rights through teamwork and the use of our considerable resources and experience.