December 18, 2015

Top 5 Ways to Make Your Garage Safer

Top 5 Ways to Make Your Garage Safer

We often store our vehicles, tools, lawn equipment, and hazardous chemicals in our garages without giving much thought to it. However, with all this equipment and lighting that’s often insufficient, garages can pose a danger that’s easy to overlook. By taking common sense safety measures you can lower the risks of injury and damage to yourself, your family, and your property.

Here are five steps you can take to make your garage safer:

1 ‑ Declutter:

when in a hurry, people sometimes toss items into the garage haphazardly, without noticing that these items may fall over if bumped or trip you up as you dig through the piles to find those Christmas lights you buried in the back last January.

Take a weekend to sift through unneeded or unwanted objects that can either be donated or sold to get them out from under your feet. Once you’ve thinned out the collection of odds and ends that have accumulated over the years, invest in some good shelving and other organization tools like plastic bins or cabinets. The time saved when you go to find that one tool you need will be worth the time invested in getting everything neatened up.

2 ‑ Position Ladders Safely:

if you store your ladders horizontally, by hanging on heavy‑duty hardware hooks for example, you remove the risk of them tipping over on someone when simply stacked vertically against the wall. Storing ladders off the floor also prevents them from being damaged if the garage floor gets wet.

3 ‑ Inspect Your Chemicals:

flammable or toxic chemicals obviously have to be stored away from your home because they need to be a safe distance from you and your family. However, just as if you stored them in the house, they should be placed up out of reach or locked in a cabinet so that children and animals aren’t in danger of accidental exposure. Keep combustible chemicals away from gas‑operated equipment or appliance that might produce a spark.

4 ‑ Test Garage Door Sensors Regularly:

this is vital especially if you have a household with children. Most garage doors are equipped with a mechanism that causes them to reverse if an object is detected underneath. You don’t want it to take a tragedy for you to realize that the reversing system is malfunctioning.

Testing the sensors is easy – simply place a wood block or other solid object beneath the door and try to close it. If the reverser does not function properly, immediately have a professional come in to repair it or install a new one.

5 ‑ Upgrade Your Lighting:

if you’re just going to or from your vehicle, dim lighting may work just fine. But with all of the heavy equipment and loose odds and ends you keep in the garage you want to have bright, quality lighting available so that you can safely move about in dark corners when searching for things.

Light fixture guards can also be useful because there are often tall items being shifted around, like ladders, rakes, and shovels. Broken bulbs are no fun to clean up and guards can help prevent those inconvenient accidents.

Even though all of these things may seem like a lot to accomplish, they can be done one thing at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed. Make a plan and write out a list of everything that you want to reorganize and do, and then dive into them one task at a time as you have a free day here and there. In no time you’ll have a clean, organized, and most importantly safe garage for you and your family to enjoy.

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