It's Not Always "Home, Safe Home":

A Survey by Home Safety Council and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Reveals Safety Knowledge and Behavior Disparities

Home should be a place of comfort and safety. Yet, for over seven million people each year, it is the site of a disabling injury. And for more than 26,000 people, home injuries lead to death.

Despite these attention-grabbing statistics, when it comes to home injuries in America, the "NIMBY" (Not In My Backyard) syndrome is thriving. Unfortunately, according to a Home Safety Council survey, American households are not taking full precautions to prevent unnecessary injuries in the home. Listed below are three prime examples of fact versus findings illustrating that knowledge does not always equal action.

Fact

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that virtually every home in the United States can be at risk for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Survey Findings

Although more than three-quarters (82%) of Americans had heard about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning, 77% of them had not purchased a carbon monoxide detector. Even more alarming, only 28% believed that there was a "real chance" that it could be a problem in their homes.

Fact

The American Association of Poison Control Centers estimates that a child is unintentionally poisoned almost every thirty seconds in the United States.

Survey Findings

While most (92%) of those polled report being satisfied with the safety of their homes for small children, less than one-quarter (24%) of Americans with children under the age of five, or with frequent child visitors, report storing most of their medicines under lock and key.

Fact

Most scalds happen to young victims, with children less than 5 years of age accounting for more than one-fourth of the total number.

Survey Findings

The majority (75%) of households with children under the age of five, or adults 65 or older, have not tested the temperature of their hot water despite the fact that hot tap water causes thousands of scald burns each year.

Although 96% of respondents felt that their home was as safe or safer than average, it's clear that Americans also feel that home injuries can happen, but "Not In My Backyard."

The Home Safety Council "Home Safety In America" survey, which examined consumers' home safety practices, was conducted by the Center For Injury Research and Policy at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health on behalf of Lowe's. A sample of 944 randomly selected household residents, 18 years of age or older, were interviewed.

Additional Home Safety Facts

According to the 1996 edition of Accident Facts, published by the National Safety Council, a person is killed due to an injury suffered in the home every twenty minutes in the United States. Some other startling statistics regarding injuries in the home include:

• the second leading cause of death in the home is falls
• unintentional injury in the home is the leading killer of children, claiming 2,700
• children under the age of 14 each year
• every day nearly 10 people die in a residential fire
• carbon monoxide is the number one cause of fatal gas poisoning in the United States
• roughly 248,000 burn injuries involving household products and substances were
• severe enough to be treated in hospital emergency rooms

For more information on home safety, call Lowe's Home Safety Council's toll-free, 24-hour information line: 1-800-SAFE-HOME. A free home safety packet can also be obtained by calling this number.

The National Safety Council is a not-for-profit, non-governmental, international public service organization dedicated to protecting life and promoting health. The Lowe's Home Safety Council is a nonprofit organization founded to enhance the quality of American home life by helping families improve the comfort of their homes through better knowledge and practice of home safety.

© 1996 Lowe's Companies, Inc.
Lowe's is a registered trademark of The LF Corp.