The room-by-room home safety checklist

Twenty checks

• A lamp or light switch can be reached from the bed, lying down.
• The path from bed to bathroom is lit by night-lights that come on by themselves.
• A flashlight is by the bed for power cuts.
• A phone can be reached from the bed, and from the floor.
• House shoes with a closed heel and a grippy sole sit by the bed.

• The tub or shower floor has a non-slip mat or self-stick strips.
• There are grab bars next to and inside the tub, and next to the toilet. Real ones, fixed into the wall. A towel bar is not a grab bar.
• A light is on at night, or a night-light comes on by itself.

• She can walk through each room without stepping around furniture.
• Throw rugs are gone, or held down with double-sided tape or non-slip backing.
• Nothing lives on the floor: papers, shoes, books, boxes.
• Cords and wires are coiled or taped along the wall.

• Nothing is stored on the stairs.
• No step is loose, broken or uneven.
• There is a light, and a switch, at both the top and the bottom.
• Carpet is firmly attached to every step, or replaced with non-slip treads.
• Handrails are solid, on both sides, and as long as the stairs.

• Things she uses often are on lower shelves, at about waist height.
• If a step stool is needed, it has a bar to hold on to. Never a chair.

• The entrance and outdoor steps are well lit, and the path to the door is clear and even.