Each year, an alarming 300,000 people arrive at emergency rooms with injuries that they sustained inside of their homes. While we all think about how hazardous the winter weather makes are daily routine outside of the home, it appears that year around we must be mindful of the dangers inside.

Of those 300,000 injuries, 81% occur inside the bathroom. This is difficult to conceive because the bathroom is supposed to be the place where you take a relaxing shower after a long day or, wash your hands after using the toilet – how could anyone get hurt in the bathroom?

Most of these bathroom injuries were due to a slip and fall accident, and while the results of these injuries could be devastating to young children or to the elderly, all ages will feel the pain of a bathroom slip and fall.

The best way to avoid a bathroom injury is to know where the dangers lie, and put safety measures in place. Here are just a few tips of things that you can do to keep yourself and your family safe inside the bathroom:

• When smooth tile is wet and soapy, a person could easily have their feet out from under them before they even knew what happened. This injury could be devastating if it involves hitting your head on a hard surface. To dramatically reduce the chances of this happening in your tile shower, add a slip-resistant mat or textured decals to the floor of your shower.
• Support bars are a great way to add safety to your shower. These are an inexpensive and versatile addition that can be installed as permanent or temporary. If you research shower grab bars as durable medical equipment, you will find options that will support a significant amount of weight that securely suction to the wall of your shower.
• A floor rug intended for safe stepping is pointless if it slips around the floor and gets wadded into a tripping hazard. Make sure that you add some kind of non-slip backing to any floor rugs that you have in the bathroom. Or, use bathmats instead of floor rugs. Bathmats are designed so that they don’t slip and will create a solid place for anyone to walk and step when in the bathroom.

Consider adding a nightlight to your bathroom so that any items that have been left out on the floor can be seen and avoided. Step stools for little ones to use the sink are a big tripping hazard and should be stored under the cabinet when not in use.