Avoiding Grill Conflagrations, Mower Catastrophes, and Other Home Safety Calamities

Get Ready for Summer with "30 for 30" Daily Facts and Tips from AARP for June Home Safety Month

WASHINGTON, June 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Did you know that 6,500 barbecue grill fires cause as much as $27 million in property losses each year? Have you thought about moving your grill a little farther from the house?  To help readers take simple home safety precautions, AARP has assembled "30 for 30" – 30 daily facts and tips – for June, which is National Home Safety Month.  For example, did you know that:

• 86,000 people fall each year because of their pets?
• Poison ivy is getting more potent and harder to identify?
• More people are injured using hand tools than power tools?
• Power mower injuries cause 80,000 hospital visits each year?
• Most falls in homes happen in the bathroom, not on the stairs?
• A sharp knife is safer than a dull one?

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"We hope AARP's '30 for 30' will shed some light on the home hazards that we all create for ourselves when we leave a hose across the sidewalk, take a knife to a hard plastic package, or set up a new barbecue grill," said Elinor Ginzler, AARP's Senior Vice President for Livable Communities.  "Most injuries can be prevented with common sense precautions that often take only a few minutes."  

The facts connected with each of the "30 for 30" tips suggest specific preventive actions. The entire list of 30 facts and tips will be available at www.aarp.org starting June 1.  A full list of "30 for 30" home safety tips from AARP is available on AARP's website at http://www.aarp.org//home-garden/housing/30_safety_tips.html.

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 35.7 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's millions of members and Americans 50+; AARP VIVA, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

SOURCE AARP