Greg shares spring cleaning safety tips for Saskatchewan, Regina, and Moose Jaw. 800 CHAB radio presents Ask the Expert with Greg Marcyniuk of Heritage Insurance located in Moose Jaw.
Here's a transcript of this episode.
Rob Carney: On the radio with Greg Marcyniuk from Heritage Insurance in Downtown Moose Jaw. Greg, it's that time of year. We look forward to it, but we got to be careful because we can get in a rush spring cleaning and we've got tips to keep it safe.
Greg Marcyniuk: That's correct, Rob. It's very important this time of year everybody wants to get things clean so I just jotted down a few quick notes here. First of all, don't rush because you're tired or in a hurry. A lot of times you get going, you're cleaning things up, you've been working hard all day and you want to get it done. That's when the accidents happen. Sit down, have a break, get a glass of water, relax. Keep safety on your mind. That should be first and foremost so nobody gets hurt while you're doing it.
Secondly, be careful moving large pieces of furniture and appliances. Make sure you're using proper lifting techniques, keeping your back straight, lifting with your legs. Also, wear shoes, if you're moving anything heavy, that cover your toes, preferably with steel toes. Finally, if you have something that's too heavy, don't exert yourself. Wait until somebody's there to give you a hand.
As well, be safe with ladders and step stools. When you're washing windows you need to use a ladder to do some cleaning, make sure you take extreme caution in doing so. A common rule of thumb is when you're leaning from either the left or right side, don't extend past your belly button. In my case it's pretty big so I've got a lot of extension there. As well, if you have somebody around that can give you a hand to steady the ladder, do that. Just take a bit of extra time ask somebody to give you a hand.
Be careful when walking on wet surfaces while you're cleaning. Make sure you let everybody know that the surfaces are wet. As well, keeping your stairs, landing, and walkways clear of boxes and clutter. You want to make sure that those areas specifically are nice and clean and getting it decluttered, because that's one of the things you should be doing at the spring cleaning is getting rid of all the excess clutter around your house.
Again, don't carry too much stuff at once, and especially on stairs because you want to try and keep one hand available for the railing when you are taking things upstairs and downstairs. Always follow cleaning product labels, safety instructions, and recommendations. Don't start mixing different cleaning supplies. Especially like mixing ammonia and bleach together, they're just not a thing to do. When you are using the cleaners, make sure you have your exhaust fans going, as well as having your windows open, well-vented. The other thing you may want to do is wear a mask when cleaning dusty areas where you haven't been for a while. It is a bit of overkill, but if you have any sort of allergies or anything, the dust mask works very well.
Again, don't lay buckets filled with water around the house because it can cause a drowning hazard. Either lift it up, put it in the sink or empty it out and refill it. The last tip here, Rob, is make sure you put away all your cleaning supplies when you're done. I know a lot of times people aren't quite finished, they figure they'll leave it out. Kids just love that stuff and that's when accidents happen. So make sure you put all those hazardous cleaners away in a childproof environment.
Rob: Spring cleaning, you can keep it safe, and you might want to go over some of these tips with your family and we can do that online.
Greg: That's correct. Go to www.heritageinsurance.ca or come on down and see any of us here at the corner of 1st and Fairford Street West.
(Video transcription by Speechpad)