--- title: Home Safety description: This subject focuses on identifying and mitigating physical hazards within residential environments. Learners will understand how to prevent common accidents, secure living spaces against fire and environmental threats, and implement safety protocols for children, seniors, and emergencies. category: health-medicine subcategory: public-health difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/public-health-home-safety --- # Home Safety This subject focuses on identifying and mitigating physical hazards within residential environments. Learners will understand how to prevent common accidents, secure living spaces against fire and environmental threats, and implement safety protocols for children, seniors, and emergencies. ## Available Resources 1 Books • 8 Websites • 1 Papers ## Books ### 1. An Occupational Therapist's Guide to Home Modification Practice, 2nd Edition **Author:** Elizabeth Ainsworth, Desleigh de Jonge Reference text for practitioners assessing and modifying homes, covering person-environment fit, structured home assessment, universal design and accessibility standards, funding and regulatory context, and case-based reasoning for prescribing modifications. 488 pages, second edition. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1630912182?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** occupational-therapy, home-modification, accessibility, universal-design, aging-in-place ## Websites ### 1. A Citizen's Guide to Radon **Author:** US Environmental Protection Agency EPA's consumer guide to radon, the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Explains short- and long-term test methods, how to interpret picocurie results, the 4 pCi/L action level, and how sub-slab mitigation systems lower indoor levels. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-12/documents/2016_a_citizens_guide_to_radon.pdf **Tags:** radon, indoor-air-quality, home-testing, environmental-health, lung-cancer-prevention ### 2. Home Safety: Tips for Families With Young Children **Author:** American Academy of Pediatrics American Academy of Pediatrics guidance on hazards in homes with young children: alarm placement, outlet and window-cord strangulation risks, furniture tip-over, poison and medication storage, firearm storage, stair gates and burn prevention. Adapted from Caring for Your Baby and Young Child. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/at-home/Pages/home-safety-heres-how.aspx **Tags:** child-safety, childproofing, injury-prevention, pediatrics, home-safety ### 3. NFPA Home Fire Safety **Author:** NFPA Public Education Division NFPA's public education hub for residential fire risk, with tip sheets on smoke alarm placement and testing, carbon monoxide alarms, two-exit escape planning, cooking, heating and electrical hazards. Materials are free and published in roughly twenty languages. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/home-fire-safety **Tags:** fire-safety, smoke-alarms, escape-planning, carbon-monoxide, home-safety ### 4. Home Safety Techniques (StatPearls) **Author:** Kathryn L. Davis, Donald D. Davis Peer-reviewed NCBI Bookshelf chapter covering residential hazards across the lifespan: falls, poisoning and ingestion, burns and heat injury. Names the validated assessment instruments such as SAFER-HOME v3 and Home FAST and reviews the intervention evidence. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560539/ **Tags:** home-safety, injury-prevention, falls, poisoning, clinical-reference ### 5. Home Safety Self-Assessment Tool (HSSAT) v.5 **Author:** Occupational Therapy Geriatric Group, University at Buffalo Free assessment booklet from the University at Buffalo occupational therapy group. Illustrates common hazards across ten indoor and outdoor home areas, pairs each with a concrete remedy, and adds product guidance, how-to repair instructions and an action log. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://publichealth.buffalo.edu/rehabilitation-science/research-and-facilities/core-facilities/aging/home-safety-self-assessment-tool.html **Tags:** home-assessment, falls-prevention, older-adults, occupational-therapy, self-assessment ### 6. ready.gov Ready.gov is the U.S. government’s official emergency preparedness site, offering practical home safety guidance and resources. It provides planning tools, checklists, and tips to help families create emergency plans, assemble disaster kits, and stay informed. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ready.gov **Tags:** websites, health-medicine, health-and-wellness ### 7. familyhandyman.com Family Handyman is a DIY home-improvement site offering step-by-step guides, tips, and projects for home wiring basics and electrical safety. Content includes tutorials on wiring outlets and switches, circuits and panels, tool recommendations, and troubleshooting advice. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://familyhandyman.com **Tags:** websites, engineering-manufacturing, electronics-electrical ### 8. safekids.org Safe Kids Worldwide is a nonprofit that provides practical child-safety resources for families, including home safety tips, car seat guidance, and injury-prevention checklists across topics like water, fire, and bike safety. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://safekids.org **Tags:** websites, health-medicine, health-and-wellness ## Papers ### 1. Environmental Interventions for Preventing Falls in Older People Living in the Community (Cochrane Review) **Author:** Clemson L, Stark S, Pighills AC, Fairhall NJ, Lamb SE, Ali J, Sherrington C Cochrane systematic review of 22 trials across 10 countries covering fall-hazard reduction, assistive technology and home modification. Finds high-certainty evidence that home hazard interventions cut falls in higher-risk older adults, and little effect in unselected populations. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9998238/ **Tags:** falls-prevention, older-adults, systematic-review, home-modification, evidence-based-practice --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/public-health-home-safety