It’s spring again! That means families can enjoy more outdoor activities as well as do some spring cleaning around the home. As you remove old clutter and make room for new items, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is encouraging consumers to spring clean for safety. Follow these tips to keep you and your family spring time safe!
If you are cleaning:
Keep household cleaners, laundry packets and medicines out of sight and out of reach of little ones in your home. Ingesting these can lead to unintentional poisoning and can have tragic results.
If doing yardwork:
Keep children away while you are mowing the lawn to keep them safe. Make sure your lawnmower and yard tools are in good condition and ready for spring yardwork. Damaged tools can become a shock or fire hazard when wiring, motors, or other electrical parts begin to wear.
Getting up on a ladder to clean gutters, paint or to do repairs?
Before you climb place the ladder’s feet on solid level ground to avoid falls and make sure you have a spotter. Keep the ladder away from power lines and live electrical wires to prevent electrocution.
It can be tricky, but be vigilant about counterfeits:
Counterfeit products often look the same as the genuine product, but they can introduce dangers and even deadly hazards into your home. CPSC is working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to spot counterfeits at the nation’s ports, but it’s important for consumers to be vigilant as well.
When buying a new bicycle helmet to go with your child’s new bicycle this spring, make sure the helmet meets CPSC’s mandatory safety standard. Wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of a serious head injury for both children and adults.
Will part of your spring cleaning include changing your refrigerator water filter? Only purchase water filters that are appropriate for your appliance and that are from manufacturers you trust. Counterfeit refrigerator water filters could lack the materials to properly filter out contaminants.
