Putting your safety first

Understanding paint hazards and essential precautions

More injuries happen at home than at work, on the road, or while playing sport. In fact, on average, someone is injured at home every 48 seconds! But it's not all doom and gloom. The good news is, with just a few simple changes, you can make your home a safer place for you, your family and visitors.

It's a great time to have a look around your place and reduce the risk of accident. Some top tips from ACC that Resene can help with are:

• Keep your paths and steps clear of leaves and moss and be careful when it's raining. You can clean moss and mould with Resene Moss & Mould Killer, decks with Resene Timber and Deck Wash and paths with Resene Deep Clean or Resene Paint Prep and Housewash.

• Make sure your outdoor areas are well lit with sensor lights and mark the edges of steps and drops with white paint for better visibility. Try using Resene Non-Skid Deck and Path for this so the white strip of paint has the added benefit of being non slip.

• If you're building from new, grooved timber on decks gives better grip. If you have an existing deck you can improve its slip resistance by adding Resene SRG Grit to your deck paint to reduce the risk of slips or use Resene Non-Skid Deck & Path.

• Keep chemical, solvents, paints and sprays out of sight and reach of children - ideally lock them away in a cupboard. Better yet, return all unwanted paint and paint packaging to the Resene PaintWise service (NZ) or Paintback (AU) - it will get them out of your house and the packaging and materials can be recycled, donated to community groups or reused. For non PaintWise areas, check with your council for recommendations.

• Keep three points of contact on ladders - e.g. two feet and a hand. Don't reach over too far - keep your belt buckle within the sides of the ladder. Check out the understanding paint hazards and essential precautions above for other tips to keep yourself safe when painting.