An accident waiting to happen: there is no place like home--as long as it is safe.

• Author: Hannan, Dan
• Position: Life in America

SOMEWHAT surprisingly, you are 10 times more likely to suffer a fatal injury away from work and equally likely to be fatally injured in your home as in your car. We are very aware of the dangers of driving, but do not regularly think of our home as a threat because it is, after all, where we relax and enjoy life. Therein lies the hidden hazard--complacency. More than 13,000,000 disabling injuries occur in the home each year, requiring emergency room visits. These include cuts, burns, broken bones, chemical exposure, electric shock, etc.

Accidents can occur during weekend do-it-yourself projects or while completing a routine task like changing a light bulb. By taking charge of your safety behavior and the condition of your home, you can reduce the chance of being injured significantly. This proactive approach requires some basic safety knowledge and a commitment to keep your home in a safe condition.

Think back to the last time you were hurt or nearly got injured. What was the real cause? Did the "stupid knife" not work correctly or did you fail to replace the dull blade with a sharp one? Did the "stupid chair" just tip over or did you fail to use the proper tool, a ladder?

In the working world it has been estimated that unsafe acts (our behavior) account for 80% or more of all accidents. The home is no different. The choices we make have consequences and there is no excuse for not doing what we know is right or going against our better judgment. The ABCs of human behavior are quite simple. Our unsafe actions are the result of some precursor event or trigger. This trigger is known as the activator, which can have any number of forms. The activator drives the behavior that results in an undesirable outcome. For instance, a time crunch may cause you to rush through a job, or fatigue may result in a lack of focus, or frustration may lead to forcing a tool beyond its capacity. Injuries, sometimes serious ones, often are the result.

Improving our behavioral serf-awareness to head off an injury can be difficult, as it requires us to change our thought process. However, knowing that our state of mind most often is at the core of an injury is the first step to improving our understanding. In the previous examples, the activators likely will be squelched by planning (ample time), proper rest (no fatigue), and using the proper tool (no need to force it).

The National Safety Council's annual publication, Injury Facts, details the who, when, how, and...