With the nation spending a lot more time at home at the moment we thought it might be a good time for a few at-home safety reminders, particularly regarding the use of exercise equipment. If you are fortunate enough to have gym equipment in your house or garage, how can you ensure that it is safe to use, especially if you have small children at home?
Here are a few safety concerns associated with at-home exercise equipment:
Weights and barbells. These can be very dangerous, particularly if children get access to them. Make sure you keep them securely stored and out of reach.
Treadmills are one of the most common types of exercise equipment to have at home. They generally come with a safety key that attaches to whoever is operating it which will stop the machine immediately if there is a problem.
Be sure that anyone likely to use the treadmill is educated as to the proper use of the machine and knows how to attach the safety key correctly.
Most people enjoy listening to music or watching tv whilst working out. The danger here could be if a small child wanders into the room without you noticing, which could put them at risk of accident and injury. One way to minimize this risk is to position exercise equipment so that you have a clear view of anyone entering the room while you are working out.
For children, gym equipment can be a real temptation as it looks like a lot of fun to play with. When not in use, be sure to keep all exercise equipment in their locked positions and don’t leave any cords hanging on the machines. You may also prefer to unplug all machines after using them which would prevent a child from accidentally switching them on. If at all possible, the safest option is to keep rooms containing gym equipment locked when not in use.
