How To Child Proof Your Home

If you’ve got a new baby on the way, you might be looking at your home with new eyes. When babies grow into toddlers, your previously safe home suddenly begins to look dangerous. You might be noticing all the sharp corners on your furniture, the pond in the garden, and all the cleaning chemicals you keep under the sink, and wondering where to start to make your house safe for a growing child. Here’s how to do it.

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In The Living Room

Keep items like candles and matches well out of reach. It’s easier than you might think for a toddler to accidentally light a match and start a fire. If the child chews on a candle you’ve left in reach, they might choke on the wax. If you love candles, think about switching to flameless LED candles, which mimic the effect of flickering candlelight.

Photo frames should be up and out of the way. A knocked over frame can cause the glass to shatter, which can lead to nasty cuts. Keep them out of grabbing reach or mount them on the wall. You could consider switching the glass for plastic.

Think about mounting your TV. If your toddler tries to climb up onto your TV stand, the set might fall, causing nasty injuries. If you can, securely mount the TV on the wall. If you can’t, anchor the set to the wall even if it is on a stand. You can put velcro straps through the air vent holes and connect them to eye hooks that you screw into the wall.

Cover the fireplace. Heat-resistant gates should be used when the flames are on. Buy pads for the edges of the hearth if it is sharp or stony, to avoid injuries from falls. If you have an artificial fire, check that any small decorative stones that are in it are fixed down, so they can’t become a choking risk.

Cover any power strips. A child left alone for even a moment, can easily unplug a cord and put a metal object into the socket. Buy socket covers, and either buy a power strip cover or push the power strip out of reach behind the furniture.

Cover table edges. The coffee and the dining table have sharp corners and edges that could be very dangerous for a small child learning to walk. They could easily cut their heads or eye area. It’s especially important to cover glass tables, as these can cause real damage. If you have a glass table made of non-tempered glass, consider replacing it, as glass like this can easily shatter.

Make sure you keep windows locked. An unlocked window that a child can open could be the cause of a nasty fall. If you can’t securely lock your windows, or they are easy for a child to open, it might be wise to replace your home’s windows for something more secure.

In The Kitchen

Fit a gate in the kitchen door. There are a lot of potential risks in a kitchen, so make it off limits for when you’re not there to supervise. Never let your child in the kitchen without you there.

Lower cabinets should have child-locks. Cleaning products, like polish and drain unblockers, are very toxic. The cabinet they’re in should be kept locked with a magnetic lock or a latch. If you can, keep items like this high up, where they can’t be reached. Even with chemicals out of the way, keep cabinets low down protected. Children can easily hurt themselves with heavy pans or broken crockery.

Be careful with the dishwasher. The main danger is the detergent, so don’t put any in until right before you need to run the dishwasher. Don’t leave anything in the dishwasher when it’s not in use and make sure knives always go in blades down. If your dishwasher has a lock setting, use it. If it doesn’t, buy an appliance lock to keep it closed.

Keep the microwave high up and out of reach. If your child is with you in the kitchen, don’t turn on the microwave then walk away, and don’t leave hot foods in there. Be careful when removing hot things from the microwave, and try to keep your child out of the way when you do it to avoid spills.

Make the stove save. Buy a stove guard, which is a plastic or metal shield that attaches to the front of the stove to prevent little hands grabbing the buttons and turning it on. You can also buy covers for the stove’s knobs. If you can’t find any to fit, take the knobs off when you aren’t cooking so curious fingers can’t twist them, turn the oven on and end up burned. When cooking, use the back burners of the hob when you can, and always turn pan handles inwards, where they can’t be grabbed. Keep the oven hard to open. An oven that can be opened easily could cause burns or injuries from being hit with the heavy door. Don’t hang a dish towel on the oven door where it can be pulled to open the oven. If you can, lock the oven door, or fit a latch to it.

Make sure small appliances are inaccessible. Most toddlers can reach counters, where they might be able to grab appliances and pull them down onto themselves. Keep cords out of reach too so they can’t be used to pull appliances off the counter.

Keep cutlery and kitchen knives out of reach. A knife block on the counter is convenient for you, but is a risk for a child. Keep knives in an out of reach cabinet, where they can’t be grabbed by little hands.

Secure the refrigerator. If your child can open the fridge door on their own, fit a latch. If you can’t, at least think about the contents. Choking hazards, like grapes, and breakables, like glass jars, need to be out of reach on a high shelf.

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Wonderful Techniques to Make Your Home the Perfect Place to Spend Lockdown

There are so many things that you can do during this lockdown to keep yourself occupied and entertained. Yes, being confined to home and having restrictions on the way you live your life is hard, there is no question about that. However, it is also the case that you have a unique opportunity here to use this to your advantage right now. There are so many wonderful techniques you can make use of that will make your home the ideal place to spend this lockdown.

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Make sure you think about what you can do to improve the home and enhance the experience of being at home as much as possible. There are a lot of things that people have to keep in mind moving forward, and this is something you should think about over the course of this lockdown. Here are some of the best techniques that can make all the difference and will help you make the most of your lockdown right now.

Sort Out Household Finances

Now, there are plenty of things you can do when it comes to finding the right finances to help your home improve and grow. Make sure you do as much as possible to take charge of your money, and this is the perfect opportunity in order to be able to do this. Sit down and come up with a list of all your incomings and outgoings, and try to work out places where you might be overspending. This is something you need to think about as much as possible, and there are a lot of elements to keep in mind here. Creating these excellent household finances is something that you need to make the most of right now, and this is something that can help you manage and improve the home better as a result.

Spring Clean

Spring cleaning is something that you should look to improve as much as possible, and there are a lot of great ideas that can play a role in this. You have to make sure you do what you can to keep the home clean and tidy, and this is something you must consider moving forward. There are a lot of amazing ideas you can use to keep your home clean and tidy, and this is something you should think about for the future. Going room by room and having a thorough deep clean is something you are going to need to make sure you get right. Spring cleaning is something that can make a huge difference to the home and how healthy your home is moving forward.

Have a Clear Out

It is important to do as much as possible to use this opportunity to have a clear out and get rid of some of your unwanted possessions. Now, you should look to be ruthless, and take the time to get rid of a lot of the stuff that you need to focus on as much as possible. It’s important to do as much as you can to find the best ways of being able to clear out and get rid of stuff. You might want to throw a lot of it away, and you could set some things aside to give away to charity, or to sell via eBay once the lockdown and quarantine blows over and this is a more viable option.

Repaint the House

This is a great chance to be able to redecorate the home and make the most of the different opportunities you have to improve the home. Repainting your property is something that can make a massive difference to the home and the way it comes across. You would be surprised by how much of an impact you can have on your home by simply adding a fresh coat of paint. And this is something you are going to need to consider; choosing a color scheme is something that you really need to keep in mind, and it can make an incredible difference to the aesthetic appeal of the property.

Set up a Home Entertainment System

You will be spending a lot of time at home over the coming months, so it is important that you make sure you do what you can to make the most of home entertainment right now. Streaming services are providing the nation with some respite in this time of uncertainty, and you should make the most of this. Come up with the perfect at-home setup to make the most of enjoying shows like Tiger King during this period. A speaker or soundbar system is something that can really enhance the sound quality when you are watching. You might even try to treat this as the perfect time to upgrade your devices and perhaps bring in the latest games console.

Tend to the Garden

Your garden is a massive asset, and it is a potential godsend for a lot of people during this lockdown experience. Your garden is one of the best aspects of the property, and it’s a great place to socialize, relax, work out, and many more things besides. Enhancing and improving the aesthetic appeal of the garden, as well as looking after and protecting it, is something you need to make sure you get right. Cutting the grass, feeding the lawn, watering the plants, and keeping everything clean and tidy.

Revamp the Kitchen

There are a lot of other things you need to look into when it comes to improving the home, and revamping the kitchen is something that can be done to improve this. Do as much of the smaller stuff as you can yourself, and then plan to bring in professionals after the lockdown to get the best possible finish for your new kitchen. Companies like N-Hance are ideal when it comes to looking at how you can improve the kitchen and make the most of what it takes to achieve this right now.

There are so many things that you can do to help you make your home better and make the right kinds of improvements over the lockdown season. This is something that you are going to need to make sure you get right as much as possible. There are a lot of elements to consider here, and you need to be clear about what it takes to make your home the ideal place to spend lockdown. This is something you need to think carefully about, and it can make all the difference to helping you make the most of the current lockdown.

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3 Tips for Turning Your Home into a More Positive Environment

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In an ideal world, we would all feel totally positive, motivated, at ease, and in control in our own homes. Our homes would, in other words, be our own personal kingdoms and slices of paradise set apart from the outside world.

In reality, however, it’s unfortunately quite common for people to be dissatisfied with the state of their homes and to feel as if their home environments are generally stressful, out of control, and that they generate a sense of restlessness and unease rather than a sense of calm and positivity.

Here are just a few tips for turning your home into a more positive environment.

Practice the arts of presence and acceptance

First and foremost, it’s very difficult to feel that your home is a positive environment if you are always looking for something more, and are always thinking of the next great project, endeavour, or purchase, that you believe will really make the difference when it comes to how your home feels overall.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with home projects or purchases – but if you want your home to feel like a more positive environment, you should make some real effort to practice the arts of presence and acceptance, so that you can appreciate what’s already right in front of you.

In other words, develop the ability to slow down, take a deep breath, and “be in the moment” in your own home. Relax and take things in your stride, instead of constantly projecting your mind into the future, or the past.

Style the aesthetic of your home to be something that uplifts you

There are all sorts of different design features and choices that will have something to do with the general aesthetic and feel of your home – ranging from things like Kitchen Cabinets, to a selection of wallpaper, or the lighting arrangement you have chosen to utilise.

Ultimately, the aesthetic features of your home really matter – and are at the forefront of shaping how your home will make you feel, and the energy it will seem to embody.

Very few people are likely to feel positive and upbeat in a gloomy and dusty home with poor lighting, for example.

Make sure that you style the aesthetic of your home to be something that uplifts you.

Enjoy more uplifting forms of entertainment in your home, as a rule.

We are all at risk of being chronically busy these days, it seems – and there is good psychological research to support the idea that stress levels are continuously rising, even as material well-being tends to increase.

According to the writer Celeste Headlee, author of the book “Do Nothing“, a major part of this problem is rooted in the desire to always be productive no matter what.

A solution? Allow sufficient time for uplifting forms of “unstructured entertainment”, rather than constantly trying to get more done.

If your home doesn’t feel like a very positive environment to you, it is possible that part of the issue is that you are just not engaging in enough uplifting entertainment there. So, curl up with a good book, watch a good film, or arrange a fun dinner with friends or family.

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Oil & Water?: Your Health And Your Hospital Service

We’re finding out now how important it is to have great hospital care, now that so many people are being attacked by this novel virus. We have to consider what kind of challenges doctors and nurses are under when they treat us during normal stress status. We hope that they have had enough time to sleep and come to work refreshed. We hope that they are arriving to work without any personal issues getting in the way of their healthcare providing for you. We don’t just want them to be in good mental and physical shape for their sake, but for our sake. Hospitals aren’t always as safe as they could be and unfortunately, sometimes you can receive poor care. Yet this is the one place where this simply cannot afford to happen. So what can you do?

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Essential Considerations For Employers: How To Keep Your Staff Safe

Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur or you run an established business, it is critical to look after your employees. As an employer, health and safety should always be a priority. If you have a team of people working for you, here are some steps you can take to keep your staff safe.

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Understanding legal requirements and regulations

Running a business isn’t just about generating profits and providing an excellent service for your customers. You also have to be aware of the legalities involved in company ownership and ensure you comply with rules and regulations. One essential consideration is workplace safety. If you are the boss, you are responsible for making sure that your staff members are safe. Depending on the type of business you run, and the occupational hazards and risks involved, you may need to cross boxes such as supplying PPE (personal protective equipment) and ensuring employees have the relevant training to operate machinery. It’s crucial to understand that if you flout the rules, or you display negligence, your employees have the right to seek legal advice for work-related accidents and injuries from a law firm like Bey & Associates. You can lower the risk of injuries by carrying out regular risk assessments, reporting accidents and ensuring employees have access to the equipment and guidance they need to work safely.

Providing training

Training is incredibly beneficial for employees, as it provides opportunities to learn new skills and develop a broader knowledge base. In many practical roles, for example, construction, training also plays a vital role in promoting safety. Employees can learn how to use equipment and operate machinery to lower the risk of accidents. Training courses, for example, lifting and handling, are also important for those working in healthcare. Match the type of training you offer your employees with the roles they undertake, and ensure you’re up to date with requirements stipulated by local and national bodies. In some cases, individuals will need to have a minimum level of training to undertake certain jobs and tasks.

Detecting and addressing hazards

Prevention is always better than cure. While it’s not possible to avoid every single accident in the workplace, there are steps you can take to try and eliminate injuries. Try and identify risk factors, and address problems as soon as they are detected. Slips and falls are among the most common types of work-related accidents. You can minimize the risk by checking the condition of flooring, keeping pathways and stairwells clear of obstructions and ensuring workspaces are well-lit. It’s also a good idea to use warning signs to make people aware of hazards, for example, hidden steps or wet floors.

As an employer, it is essential to ensure that you do everything you can to keep your staff safe. Make sure you are aware of laws and health and safety regulations related to your workplace, take steps to prevent accidents and provide access to the relevant training and protective equipment. Report accidents, take note of potential hazards and be proactive in introducing measures and policies to minimize risks.

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3 Examples of What Self-Care May Look like at Home

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If you feel chronically stressed as a rule, and worn down, worried, and irritated by the various obstacles presented by everyday life – one of the best things you can do is to take an active interest in “self-care” as a remedy to that.

Under normal circumstances, there are all sorts of things that people will tend to do in the name of self-care – including, perhaps, booking a medical cosmetic appointment with a company such as Med Spa.

As of this writing, however, much of the world is still under quarantine due to the COVID-19 Pandemic – which means that “self-care” is something that essentially has to take place primarily at home.

Here are a few suggestions on what self-care may look like at home.

Getting enough sleep

Sleep seems like a passive and potentially even aimless use of time – which is, no doubt, a big part of the reason why so many people these days are apparently chronically sleep deprived, ranging from entrepreneurs who work late into the night, to people who simply want to catch up on their Netflix viewing after work.

When push comes to shove, though, sleep is actually one of the most crucially important things you could possibly do for your own general well-being and physical and mental health.

In his book, “Why We Sleep“, the sleep scientist Matthew Walker looks at the consequences of not getting enough rest – and those consequences are severe. Even just getting an hour or so less sleep than you need each night to really feel rested, can result in your blood sugar regulation being so badly affected that you’d be classed as prediabetic following a blood test. Sleep deprivation will also cause you to age prematurely, feel dramatically more stressed, and be far more susceptible to all sorts of terrible diseases.

Getting more sleep really is potentially the best self-care tip you could ever take to heart.

Finding opportunities every day to do things that help you to feel in touch with a higher purpose

If your everyday life is just a series of chores and routines that you don’t find particularly meaningful, you are likely to feel unfulfilled, and to have the nervous sneaking suspicion that you are wasting your potential somehow.

One of the best things you can do for your overall sense of well-being, and your quality of life as a whole, is to find opportunities every day to do things that help you to feel in touch with a higher purpose – however you construe that.

These activities don’t have to be large and dramatic – especially not at first. Consider looking into the field of “Positive Psychology” for tips on where to start.

Taking some time each day for a bit of laughter and conversation

Finding regular opportunities for conversation – that is, conversation that involves actually speaking to people with your own voice, rather than texting them – has been shown to have a tremendously positive effect in terms of reducing stress levels, and promoting a general sense of well-being.

In fact, there’s even evidence that regular social interaction is one of the key human requirements for health and well-being – even for the most introverted of people.

A bit of laughter, too, can work wonders in terms of melting away stress and helping you to step into a more carefree mode of living.

Find moments each day for a bit of laughter and conversation – even if that means just calling up a friend or relative for a few minutes of phone conversation, and watching a funny movie or show.

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4 Software Applications To Keep Your Business Safe Online

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Why is cybersecurity important?

Modern businesses rely heavily on the internet, whether it’s for project management, communications or customer service. Many operations run their businesses entirely online, it’s become essential lately due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There are many benefits to running your business online, yet there are also risks. When you operate online you are at risk of a data breach. We can define a data breach as an incident where confidential or sensitive data is accessed or taken, without the permission of your company.

Perhaps you’ve often wondered why is cyber security important? It’s because a data breach can be both expensive and damaging to your branding and reputation. Data breaches have left many businesses in legal trouble. Many believe that their small online business won’t be targeted. Yet according to Hashed Out, ‘Small businesses are a favorite target of cyber criminals — cyber attacks were up 424% in 2018.’ Luckily, there are many software applications you can use for protection.

1. Flowmon

Flowmon is a network monitoring and security platform. The software relies on IP flow tracking to offer users full network visibility. This basically means that Flowmon discovers any security threats early, and stops them before these threats get a chance to do any damage! The software uses IDS, firewalls and antiviruses to combat cybersecurity threats. Flowmon uses network probes in real-time, which offers you high quality around the clock protection.

2. ThreatAdvice

Threat Advice is a cyber education tool which helps businesses to understand how they are vulnerable online and offers a solution. Some of the great features of Threat Advice include threat intelligence gathering, threat awareness and AI Machine learning. Using Threat Advice your business can determine the risks of attacks and respond accordingly. The app offers emergency response and has a cyber hotline that’s open 24/7.

3. TokenEx

TokenEx can help your business to look after it’s sensitive and confidential data. The software can reduce the damage of a security breach should the worse occur. TokenEx makes sure that hackers cannot break into your system, steal tokens, and consequently- make off with your data! Other features of the software include encryption, integrations and file transfer. With Token Ex you’ll get top protection against a data breach, so you can rest easy.

4. Barkly

Barkly offers businesses a straightforward management system, reliable protection and smart tech. The system works to block attacks and keep your network safe and sound. Some of the great features include endpoint management, AI and Machine learning, and behavioural analytics. With Barkly you can rest assured that your data is safe and get on with what you do best!

Besides adopting cybersecurity software it can be beneficial to use a password manager system. Use multi-factor authentication to ensure that no unauthorised users can access your network. This is especially important when employees are accessing your network on the go from various devices. With the right security solutions in place it’s far easier to expand your business online.

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