Water safety doesn’t stop at the beach. There are plenty of reasons to exercise some extra caution when we’re at home as well. When it comes to bath and shower safety, we can never be too careful.
Watch Your Step!
First things first, let’s talk about slipping and sliding. According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), slipping on wet floors is one of the most common household hazards. What is one of the most common places to find a wet floor? You guessed it: the bathroom!
Now, we’ve written an entire blog post about
the dangers of slipping on wet floors. This is a serious bath and shower safety concern for everyone. Fortunately, the remedy is fairly simple. Be sure to properly dry off before you step out of the tub. Don’t forget the bottoms of your feet! Certain surfaces, such as a tile floor, can become extremely slick once wet.
Additionally, don’t forget to put down some extra towels or a rug to sop up some of the excess water that may have gotten on the floor. These can provide extra grip for exiting the bathroom.
Bath and Shower Safety Means Cleaning Up
Just like a pool, your bathtub and shower will get dirty over time. Moisture can cause slippery slime and algae to build up where you least expect it. This buildup can make the floors surprisingly slippery. This can lead to falls and potentially serious injuries. In fact, a bad enough fall can even be fatal.
With this in mind, it never hurts to occasionally give your tub an extra deep clean. Even if you routinely stay on top of bathroom cleanliness, it might be time for a heavy duty scrubbing.
Active Supervision
The next point is especially important for young children. Drowning happens quickly and often without warning. If there is enough water to cover the mouth and nose, there is enough water for someone to drown.
For this reason, active supervision is crucial. Parents should never leave a child alone in the bathtub. That means no answering the phone, grabbing something from the other room or any other “just a second” activities. If you absolutely need to leave the bathroom, be sure to take the child out of the water first. Far too many parents have learned about this type of drowning danger the hard way.
On a similar note, it is not necessary to fully fill the bath tub for kids. In fact, the less water used, the better. To prevent this, it is recommended that the water level not be any higher than the child’s shoulders. When bath time is over, make absolutely sure to drain the bathtub immediately. Make sure to remove any toys from the tub as well, just to prevent a curious little one from reaching over and falling into the tub.
Electricity and Water Don’t Mix
Finally, here’s a very important bath and shower safety tip for everyone. Keep any electrical products
far away from the water. We’ve written extensively about
electric shock drowning in the past.
Most of us realize that electricity and water don’t mix. Of course, most of us knowing something still won’t prevent every careless accident. People often get lazy and keep a hair dryer or electric razor too close to the shower. If this falls into the water, it can easily become a fatal mistake. Instead, always be sure to unplug these devices before hopping into the bath or shower. Even better, store them in a cabinet or closet to avoid them slipping down and falling into the water.
