With warmer weather approaching, it’s time to brush up on window safety basics

By Mac McKinney
President, Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia

It’s been a long, cold winter, and as the weather is finally starting to warm up, opening up the windows to air out your home may seem like a wonderful idea. As spring approaches, keep in mind that in addition to letting in fresh air, windows also play a critical role in home safety.

Your windows can serve as secondary escape routes from your home and are invaluable in case of emergency; every member of your family should know how to take advantage of a window exit during a fire. However, it is equally as important for homeowners to understand that open windows can be hazardous, especially to young children, and to be familiar with the important steps you can take to prevent accidental falls.

In honor of National Window Safety Week, April 18-24, 2004, take some time to assess the state of your home’s windows and your family’s awareness of their importance in terms of overall home safety. The tips below can help ensure that your windows provide a trouble-free escape route for your family in an emergency while remaining safe for youngsters in your home.

• Windows provide one of the fastest, easiest alternatives to escape ahouse fire. Sit down with your family to design an emergency escape plan, and practice it. Always be sure that there is at least one window in each sleeping and living area that is available as an alternate escape route during a home emergency.

• Make sure that your windows open and close easily. When performing spring repairs, be careful not to accidentally paint or nail your windows shut, making emergency escape impossible. Do not install window unit air conditioners where they could block or impede escape during an emergency.

• While security bars, grilles and window grates keep intruders out, they also can lock you in. If the devices do not have a simple and functioning release mechanism, they are useless when you are trying to escape a fire.

• When children are present, make sure that windows are closed and locked. Set and enforce rules to keep your children from playing around windows or patio doors, and keep furniture, along with any other objects that children may climb, away from windows.

• Don’t depend on window screens to prevent falls. Insect screens are designed to provide ventilation while keeping pests and debris out—not to keep youngsters in.

• Plant shrubs and other soft landscaping underneath windows to lessen the impact in case of a fall; the degree of potential injury can be significantly affected by the surface on which the victim falls.

For more information about National Window Safety Week and additional window safety tips, visit the National Safety Council Web site at www.nsc.org.

(Mac McKinney, who is owner and president of McKinney Builders Inc., is president of the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia, which serves a membership of approximately 550 builders and associate members in Fayette, Coweta, Spalding, Meriwether, Heard, Pike, Upson, Lamar, Butts and Jasper counties.)