Staying Safe In Your Student House

Hi there. You know safety in the (student) home always seems to be overlooked somehow. It seems such a mundane subject and there are cooler things to think about than that.

Never the less, we've got to be sure those safety bods are satisfied (even when we've got clever people like you living in our student houses) and give you a few pointers in the right direction, even if seems like total common sense.

You know, that kitchen, open plan or shut away in its own little corner of the house behind the door that never seems quite as inviting to walk through when there's washing up to be done, yeah that room.

Well, the number of hidden dangers and all that. Just bear those potentially slippery floors in mind, particularly after that takeaway or some nice person attempting the best roast dinner of all time - you mean your housemates haven't cooked you a roast yet? Shameful, absolutely shameful ?

The point is, of course, that spillages are pretty common in any kitchen, so get the cheapest kitchen towel you find and give it a wipe before there are humans lying on the floor right next to it post spillage slippage.

Now, you're not 5 and I'm not your mum, but - hot hobs without a saucepan on can be painful, and I should know, I've nearly fallen for that one myself.

Incidentally, (and something I could have mentioned earlier), there's always keeping yourself out of the stats. Do your best not to be one of the 2.7 million yearly A and E visitors, [link to source] and certainly don't be one of the 6 thousand who don't make it that far.

Not all accidents can be avoided, but most can, just by being a bit more aware what's going on and what's around you. There might be artificial intelligence and sensors built into everything, everyone and their dog one day, but we're nowhere near that level at the present time.

For instance, you might become aware over time that one of your fellow tenants tend to leave sharp knives in the washing up bowl, 'conveniently' obscured by murky water, you know, from the washing up that's been left so long it's started to evolve into another piece of kitchenware ?

I wouldn't just leave it in there like the notorious accident waiting to happen, no siree, I'd deal with it asap.

Actually, talking about artificial intel, watch out for those evil phone chargers. No, the phone chargers themselves aren't really evil, after all, they keep our smartphones and tablets fuelled up. No, it's the wires that go into the wall socket. Sensible folk like you normally put the phone to charge by your bed, but yet, I've still seen them charging in a place where it's possible to trip and do yourself some damage, ridiculous really. I think if you want to charge it downstairs, put it on a table or even under it since no one is going to be walking under it unless they're unbelievably short.

Clutter also springs to mind, I guess it's OK if it's your study desk, after all, you're the one who has to find things on it. But clutter on the floor? Arghh! No way Mr May. What's the word I'm rooting for? Yeah, that's right, trip hazard, (weren't they a band?).

Trip hazards and poor lighting - yum, great combo...not. Particularly on stairs.

Most of you have got the common sense not to leave things in awkward places for people to trip over, you are, after all, learned students.

Some real-life incidents that didn't cause any harm, now: (highly, highly, and thrice highly unlikely to happen to anybody else anytime soon, but hey.)

Scenario one: the phone rings, (that's a landline one, old-fashioned, they're attached to something with a wire, ie, not a smartphone. In other words, the sort your mum and dad might have, haha)

Anyway, there's a sofa right next to the phone, the person on the other end of the phone wants to talk to someone else in the house. The person who answered starts to move away from the phone, sofa arm is directly behind her. Cue comical and somewhat slow-motion fall over the sofa arm and a gentle landing - nobody was hurt.

Scenario two: Moving away from the inside of the house to the outside and the garden:

There's a scene, (which spawned 'sequel scenes') in The Simpsons, where Sideshow Bob keeps stepping on rakes: (you can see that here.)

Surely this wouldn't or couldn't happen in real life? Could it?

Actually, it has, although not with a rake lying on the ground, (although maybe that has happened in real-life and nobody's admitting it).

I know someone well who did lean a rake against a wall with the rake prongs facing out. Temporarily forgetting it was positioned there and moving to fetch another garden tool leaning against the wall, his toe just caught one of the prongs and the rake handle hit him just below the right eye, but not too hard, fortunately.

So... no harm was really done in these two 'you had to be there to appreciate the comic side' accidents, but the serious side and big recommendation is to keep it safe in your new student accommodation and enjoy your stay all the more.