Safety Hazards to Watch for Around the House

Reviewed by health expert Sally Russell, MN, CMSRN, CNE

Creating a safe home environment where your family can grow and thrive is a top priority. Thankfully, though a number of serious safety hazards lurk around the average home, most of these concerns are pretty easy to address.

Make sure you’re doing everything you can to achieve maximum home safety. Consult this guide of nine common safety hazards around the home to learn quick and simple solutions for keeping you and your loved ones out of harm’s way.

Injuries due to falls are one of the most common hazards at home. In fact, one out of five older adults who falls incurs a broken bone or a head injury.¹ Wet floors, slippery stairs, and scattered toys all create the potential for falls.

Read more about how removing hazards around the home in our Room-by-Room Guide to Senior Safety.

To improve bathroom safety, secure rugs to avoid slipping and to prevent water from pooling on slick surfaces. Non-slip stickers like SlipX Solutions Safety Treads are a particularly good way to keep everyone in your home from slipping in the shower.

Install safety rails like the Medline Bathtub Grab Bar to help family members old and young safely get in and out of the shower. Or use a Changing Lifestyles Safe-er-Grip Balance Assist Bar, which is small enough to fit in any shower. You can add more than one to provide extra support to older family members and others who need additional help.

Even a small toy can be a tripping hazard. Give the kids an easy way to stow toys and make sure every playdate ends without injury. Secure skateboards, bikes, and other mobile toys in a safe area where family members and visitors won’t trip on them.

One key to home safety is fire prevention. In 2020, there were more than 356,500 fires in US homes, causing everything from mild smoke damage to total devastation, including the loss of 2,630 lives.² Even candles or an unattended iron can lead to accidental fires in your home, but there is a lot you can do to prevent a home fire from starting or getting out of hand. Learn more from our fire prevention guide.

Never leave unattended candles or use them near loose cloth like drapes or blankets. Also, make sure this fire hazard stays out of reach of children and that pets can’t knock them over.

Another potential danger in the house is carbon monoxide. Low exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) can cause headaches and dizziness, while high levels can lead to vomiting, impaired vision, and even death.

Carbon monoxide is virtually impossible to detect by smell, sight, or sound, making it a difficult threat to discern. But there are things you can do to ward off CO poisoning.

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Choking is the fourth-largest cause of accidental death in the US, claiming 3,000 victims in 2020.³ From a bite of dinner going down the wrong way to a young one accidentally swallowing a small item, choking is scary. Educate yourself with these safety tips about choking hazards, and take measures to keep your family safe.

Regularly inspect toys for any loose parts. Give age-appropriate toys to ensure there are no small parts. Scour floors for small toys or items where little hands might easily find them.

Learn more about hazards to watch out for in play rooms and nurseries. 

Be sure to keep small, hard foods like nuts or candies out of reach of children. Pay special attention at adult gatherings where children can more easily sneak something unnoticed.

Even if your child is no longer an infant, a baby monitor can still come in handy. Use this gadget to listen in for signs of choking when children are playing in another room.

For children under the age of four, always cut up hard foods that can block airways. The same applies to softer foods like grapes, cherry tomatoes, and hot dogs. A grape slicer is a handy tool that makes safe snacking easier for you and your toddler.

This one seems like a no-brainer, but unfortunately there are a number of common items with sharp edges inside and outside your home. Everything from an open food can to a garden hoe can be dangerous.

Keep little ones safe from sharp points by pointing knives and forks downward in the utensil basket of the dishwasher. Place the basket away from the front of the dishwasher to make sharp objects even less accessible.

Lawn tools, including rakes, saws, and lawnmowers, can cause harm if not used and stored properly. Stay alert when using power tools, and never rush while mowing the lawn or using the weed whacker. Never leave tools lying around. Always keep them locked in a shed or garage where kids can’t access them.

There were over two million poisoning incidents reported to poison control centers nationwide in 2020.⁴ Several household items present poisoning hazards, including cleaning and home maintenance supplies.

However, a little diligence and poison-proofing can decrease the chance of accidental poisoning in your family.

Keep all makeup, hair products, soaps, and other personal products out of the reach of children and pets. Use safety latches on all doors and drawers to help keep even the most determined youngsters out.

As with all household cleaners, lock laundry and dishwasher detergents out of reach of pets and kids. If you use detergent pods, make sure children don’t mistake them for candy. Never fill the soap dispenser until you’re ready to start a load and always check your dishwasher for leftover residue after each cycle.

Cords on window dressings like blinds or curtains present a common strangling hazard to small children and infants.⁵ Here are three ways you can help make your home safer for little ones.

Keep window and electrical cords out of reach of little ones. Never place a crib or bed under a window with dangling cords. If you use an extension cord, make sure to put it away after it’s no longer needed.

To keep children from tangling themselves up, trim cords to a length that is only accessible to the adults in the home. Better yet, trade out window treatments for designs without cords.

If you like the look of blinds, make your windows attractive and safe with Achim Home Furnishings Cordless Pleated Shades.

If you’re not ready to redecorate, you can make your home safe by installing blind cord wraps to your current window coverings. Dreambaby Blind Cord Wraps are affordable, easy to install, and transparent, so they won’t clash with your decor.

Drowning isn’t only a risk when swimming or playing in water outside—it can also present a hazard in the home. On average, two-thirds of childhood drownings under the age of one occur in a bathtub,⁶ so do your part to prevent drowning with these two tips:

If you use buckets for cleaning, keep them empty and away from water sources. 

It only takes a few inches of water for a child or infant to drown, so never leave a child alone in the bathtub, and always close the toilet lid. Learn more in our child bathroom safety guide.

If your child slips under the water, knowing how to react can save their life. But drowning doesn't always look obvious. Take a class from your local Red Cross to recognize drowning and learn rescue techniques like CPR.

Burns may not seem like a common household hazard, but they’re a risk whenever you use dishwashers and stoves. Thankfully, there are a few ways you can help ensure no one in your family feels the searing heat of a fresh burn.

Make sure your dishwasher latches securely at all times to prevent curious fingers from opening the door, particularly at the end of a cycle when burns from steam are most likely to occur. Add the Safety 1st Appliance Lock as an extra measure to keep stop accidental dishwasher access.

Around 180,000 deaths each year are caused by burns.⁷ To prevent burns, use the back burners on your stove when possible. This makes it more difficult for kids to accidentally touch a hot stovetop. Never rest tempting items like cookies or toys on the stovetop, even when it’s not in use.

Stoves—especially gas ones—are the perfect place for something to accidentally catch on fire. Protect your home from a potential fire by adding stove knob covers, like these from Safety 1st. They keep small hands from turning on burners or grownups from inadvertently knocking burners to the “on” position.

Nothing is more important than keeping your family safe. Knowing which precautions to take makes your job as family protector a little easier, but no one can be on duty all the time.

You may want to get some help protecting your loved ones with a monitored security system. Most current systems offer home automation and remote access so you can make sure everything is okay as often as you want.

• Fear vs. Reality: Which Household Accidents Should You Worry About?
• Complete Home Safety and Security Checklist
• The Complete Backyard Safety Checklist
• Room-by-Room Guide to Senior Home Safety
• Combat Holiday Hazards with Smart Home Tech

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Important Facts about Falls," August 6, 2021. Accessed August 29, 2022.
2. National Fire Protection Association, "Fire Loss in the United States in 2020." August 29, 2022.
3. National Safety Council, "Choking Prevention and Rescue Tips." August 29, 2022.
4. National Capital Poison Center, "Poison Statistics National Data 2018." August 29, 2022.
5. Consumer Product Safety Commission, "Window Covering Cords Information Center." August 29, 2022.
6. CDC, "Drowning Facts," March 10, 2022. August 29, 2022.
7. World Health Organization, "Burns," March 6, 2018. August 29, 2022.