We want our residents to have an egg-cellent Easter, and to help do this, we’ve got some top safety tips that will help keep everyone safe over the holiday period.
Group Manager, Paul Jones, said: “We wish all our residents a happy Easter and want them to stay safe however they might be celebrating. We can sometimes see an increase in the number of call outs to emergencies during bank holiday weekends, so we have provided some useful information to help keep residents safe in their homes.
“This involves advice on keeping electrical devices in order, maintaining smoke alarms and a reminder to residents to avoid distractions and not to leave cooking unattended. While bank holidays are often spent with friends and family, we also ask residents to be mindful of those that may not be coping so well. Why not take an hour to check-in on elderly or vulnerable relatives, friends and neighbours and be on the look-out for signs that something might be wrong.”
Key safety tips include:
- Having working smoke alarms installed on all levels of your home. Working alarms can provide vital time needed to escape in a fire. It is important to test smoke alarms every week and never remove batteries!
- Never leaving cooking unattended. The majority of fires start in the kitchen, so this is a high-risk area. Always turn off kitchen appliances when finished cooking.
- Never leaving burning candles unattended. Keep candles out of the reach of children, and away from decorations, cards, fires, lights and heaters.
- Not overloading sockets. Ensure only one plug per socket. Always turn off plugs when they are not in use, except those that are designed to be left on, like freezers.
In addition, with the Easter bank holiday temperatures reported to reach 22 degrees, we are urging residents to take extra care while enjoying the warm weather. Key safety tips include:
- Extinguishing cigarettes and other smoking materials properly.
- Never throwing cigarette ends out of car windows – they can ruin whole fields of crops.
- Not leaving bottles or glass in woodlands – sunlight shining through glass can start fires – take them home or put them in a waste or recycling bin.
- Only using barbecues in a suitable and safe area and never leave them unattended.
- Avoiding having open fires in the countryside.
For more safety advice, please visit rbfrs.co.uk.