Are These Top Hidden Hazards in Your Home?

You install outlet covers when they're babies and buy snazzy helmets when they start riding bikes — safety precautions are just par for the parenting course. But you may not realize that some everyday, seemingly harmless household items are putting kids at serious risk.

So, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has pinpointed these "Top Five Hidden Home Hazards" to help prevent unnecessary injuries and even deaths:

1. Magnets are behind the death of a 20-month-old and 86 injuries, including at least 19 emergency surgeries, since 2005. Magnets (or a magnet and another metal object) can attract to each other internally when swallowed, causing serious, potentially fatal injuries like torn, twisted, or blocked bowels.
2. Recalled products hit a record high in 2006 with 467 dangerous items pulled from store's shelves. This year's huge recalls included 1.5 million Thomas & Friends toys in June, followed by two separate August recalls of nearly 10 million magnetic and/or potentially lead-paint-tainted playthings.
3. Tip-overs of furniture, TVs, and ranges caused more than 100 deaths from 2000 to 2005. And about 3,000 kids younger than 5 were treated in emergency rooms when TVs toppled over.
4. Windows and coverings can kill and seriously injure kids. Window drapes and blind cords fatally strangle about 12 kids each year. And an average of nine kids die and about 3,700 get hurt from window falls annually.
5. Pool and spa drains caused 15 injuries and two deaths from 2002 to 2004. Fun times can turn dangerous when a child becomes sealed against — or has hair pulled and tangled into — the powerful suction of the pool drain.

What This Means to You

Knowing what's hazardous and why is the first step to keeping kids out of harm's way. Here's a look at the top dangers and what you can do about them.

Magnets. To make sure tiny but powerful magnets don't make it into your children's mouths:

• Keep loose magnets and magnetic pieces away from kids younger than 6.
• Stop using any recalled magnetic products and call the company right away.

Recalled products. To stay on top of the latest recalls, from clothes to household appliances, electronic gizmos to toys:

• Sign up for the CPSC's email announcements by going to their website.
• Search the CPSC's site to find out if anything in your home has been recalled.
• Send in the registration card whenever you buy a new product.

Tip-overs. To help stop serious, even fatal injuries when kids climb onto, pull up on, or bump into large or unstable furniture:

• Anchor unsteady or big pieces of furniture to the floor or use special hardware to attach TV stands, entertainment units, bureaus, bookcases, etc., to the wall.
• Put TVs on sturdy furniture and sit them as far back as possible.
• Don't keep tempting things like toys, remote controls, or food on top of TVs and furniture.

Windows and coverings. To prevent innocent exploration from leading to strangulation on blind cords or devastating window falls:

• Install new childproof window locks or invest in window guards or stops — regular window screens do not keep kids from falling out.
• Use cordless blinds. Or, keep cords and chains out of kids' reach, making sure to cut looped cords and install a safety tassel at the end of each pull cord.
• Move all furniture, cribs, and beds away from windows.

Pool and spa drains. Whether you're using someone else's or you have your own pool or spa, you can:

• Make sure a Safety Vacuum Release System (SVRS) is installed, which prevents entrapment by automatically shutting off the pool pump or interrupting the water circulation when it detects a blocked a drain.
• Always look around for entrapment hazards.
• Make sure drain covers aren't missing or broken.

By spending a little time and often little or no money, you can help prevent standard products from causing devastating injuries in your home.