How safe is your home for children?

Moving into a new home? If you have children, it’s a great time to make sure your home is safe for the smallest members of your household. Every 30 minutes a child in the United States is injured as a result of a TV or furniture tip-over incident. Most of those injuries happen at home, involving children younger than 7 years of age.

So how do these injuries happen? Generally, they come from climbing. Children spot a toy atop a dresser or bookshelf and decide to monkey their way to it. The unfortunate result is that the child’s weight tips the furniture over. When it comes to television sets – which constitute about half of all injuries – the problem usually comes from oversized screens toppling over.

What can you do to keep your children safe? Here are tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:

Secure your television. Televisions that are not wall mounted should still be anchored so they won’t topple over.

Read all instructions. Follow all manufacturer instructions to secure TVs and furniture.

Secure top-heavy furniture. Bookshelves, dressers and other types of furniture are prone to tip-overs. Secure furniture to the wall and/or install anti-tipping devices.

Remove tempting objects. Remove items that might tempt kids to climb, such as toys and remote controls, from the top of the TV and furniture.

For tips on how to make your home safe, check out this guide.