Swimming Pool and Grill Safety
Allstate Offers Tips on Keeping Your Family Safe This Fourth of July and Throughout the Summer
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With July Fourth quickly approaching, many families will gather around swimming pools and barbecue grills to celebrate. Unfortunately, that celebration can be quickly tempered by an accidental drowning or misuse of a grill. The good news is there is a lot you can do to drastically reduce those dangers.
Swimming pools can be a fun family area, but they can also be the site of injuries and accidental deaths. To help keep pools safe, many local government agencies require the pool to be fenced with a latching gate.
In addition to a fence, pool owners should also consider creating layers of protection around the pool. "This means setting up as many barriers as possible to make it difficult for a child to get into the pool area when not in use," said Allstate Agent Steve Westrick. "This would include installing door alarms, locks and safety covers to help prevent accidents."
Often people ask: if someone does get injured by my pool, am I protected? Westrick explains that your home insurance may provide coverage for damages to your home and other structures on the premises, including pools, and liability protection in the event somebody sues you. If in doubt, check with your agent.
In addition to barriers and constant supervision, the Consumer Product Safety Commission offers these tips to help prevent drowning deaths:
- Since every second counts, always look for a missing child in the pool first.
- Don't leave toys and floats in the pool that can attract young children and cause them to fall in when they reach for them.
- Secure ladders on above-ground and inflatable pools when not in use.
- Even if children can swim, it doesn't make them drown-proof. Always supervise children.
Just as pools have the potential to be dangers, so do barbeque grills. Every year, careless use of barbecue grills is the cause of hundreds of fires. The resulting property damage can be widespread and expensive. Careless grilling costs millions of dollars and, tragically, can also cost people their lives.
"Even a moment of carelessness with a barbecue grill can cause a situation that is costly and dangerous," says Westrick. "However, understanding the causes of common grilling accidents and taking the appropriate safety precautions help people avoid dangerous situations during the outdoor cooking season."
The following tips can help everyone enjoy their barbeque grills safely:
ALWAYS
- Be sure your grill is sturdy and stable, especially if it stands on legs. Take special care on a combustible surface.
- Place your grill so that sparks and smoke won't fly toward buildings, furniture or people.
- Prevent burns and protect your clothing with a heavy apron and potholder-type gloves.
- Use only enough charcoal to last for the time it is needed.
- Properly attach your ash catcher when using a kettle grill.
- Douse the coals thoroughly with water after grilling.
- Transport, store and use propane gas cylinders in an upright position only.
DON'T
- Barbeque in a confined space; if possible, don't grill on balconies and decks of apartments and condominiums.
- Use gasoline, kerosene, alcohol or a cigarette lighter to start the fire.
- Add more starter fluid to an existing fire.
- Leave a grill unattended once the coals are lit.
- Move outdoor barbeques indoors. Smoldering charcoal can build up lethal concentrations or carbon monoxide.
- Discard used briquettes in a cardboard carton or any other combustible container.
The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer. Widely known through the "You're In Good Hands With Allstate®" slogan, Allstate is reinventing protection and retirement to help 16 million households insure what they have today and better prepare for tomorrow. Consumers access Allstate insurance products (auto, home, life and retirement) and services through Allstate agencies, independent agencies, and Allstate exclusive financial representatives in the U.S. and Canada, as well as via www.allstate.com and 1-800 Allstate®. As part of Allstate's commitment to strengthen local communities, The Allstate Foundation, Allstate employees, agency owners and the corporation provided $28 million in 2011 to thousands of nonprofit organizations and important causes across the United States.
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Contact:
Meghan Cass
(248) 994-9394
Meghan.Cass@allstate.com