Seasonal Safety Tips

Household fires and carbon monoxide poisoning claim hundreds of lives each year. We want you all to have a happy and safe holiday season, so we’re passing on these seasonal safety tips from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Underwriters Laboratories:

• Have your heating and air conditioning systems inspected and serviced yearly.
• Have your chimneys swept every year.
• Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home that meet current industry standards, and check them regularly.
• Install at least one of each on every floor of your home, and change the batteries every six months. (Tip: Replace the batteries in these units when you change your clocks for daylight savings time).
• Make sure your family knows what the smoke and carbonmonoxide alarms sound like. Also, develop and practice a fire escape plan with your family.
• Never burn charcoal inside your home or your garage.
• Never operate an unvented fuel burning appliance (such as a kerosene space heater) in a closed room, and never use your gas range, oven or dryer to heat your house. Also, never use portable fuel-burning camping equipment inside a home, garage, vehicle or tent.
• Follow the safety and operating instructions on all your home appliances. If the appliance isn’t working correctly, don’t use it until you’ve had it checked and repaired.