Four Ways to Prevent Falls during Fall!
Fall arguably is one of the most beautiful seasons!
You’ve got leaves changing colors on the trees. Crisp scents. Clear blue skies . . .
Then the leaves fall on the ground and become wet and slippery.! What’s a girl to do to prevent falls outdoors this time of year?
To celebrate Falls Prevention Month, let’s go over four ways to prevent falls during fall!
1) Footwear
I am a firm believer in wearing whatever type of shoe you prefer. However, when it precipitates outside, we need to seriously consider more practical footwear. Look for a shoe with a rubber sole that grips wet leaves and slick pavement to keep you sturdy while walking outside to the car or into school or work.
I gleefully wear my rubber boots when walking my dogs on rainy days with the knowledge that I won’t slip and fall. Freedom!
If I want to wear other shoes at work or visiting friends and family, I wear my rubber boots in the car and carry my other shoes in a tote! Easy peasy! I can have my cake and eat it too!
Also, consider anti-slip pads for the soles of your shoes for indoor and outdoor surfaces. You simply place the anti-slip pads to the bottom of your shoes and walk in confidence.!
Look for anti-slip pads on Amazon or any big box store for around $10. It’s a reasonable investment to avoid falling. I don’t think you need anything as hardy as anti-slip traction cleats to combat ice yet. BUT we are almost to that time of year as well.
(FYI: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you purchase anything through these links, I earn a tiny commission! Thank you!)
2) Lighting
Shorter days mean less light when I leave early in the morning and arrive home in the evening. It’s hard to see slick spots on my back stoop, stairs, and sidewalk.
A simple solution is adding more light to avoid stepping in a huge puddle of mud. Solar panel pathway lighting is becoming more inexpensive and affordable to install by the walkways in and out of your house or apartment.
Pathway lighting takes little effort to maintain and gives enough light to see where to safely walk. You can choose from an assortment of different designs to make your outdoors look even more beautiful.
You also want to consider mounting an automatic motion sensor light by your main entryway. When the light senses you coming towards the door, it turns on and allows you to find your key and the keyhole to quickly enter your home.
Most of the automatic motion sensor lights have adjustable timers to turn off after sensing no movement. This feature conserves energy in addition to preventing any falls you may have trying to get in and out of the house.
3) Non Slip Outdoor Flooring
My back stoop is made out of wood. Unfortunately, a lot of paint has chipped off due to the elements and being a part of the main entryway of the house. The foot traffic, sunshine, wind, and rain, and snow combined have worn the poor sucker out.
Maria Lindbergh
How do I fix it? Well, I could repaint the back stoop and apply an anti-slip coating or traction spray, like Slip Doctors, to prevent falls in the future. This is the least expensive option. You can find these items online or in the store easily and slap the coating on your flooring. The only problem is anti-slip coating tends to fade away after use and time. You need to reapply the coating to ensure you stay fall-free when entering and exiting your home.
Another option is to place anti-slip flooring on top of the existing stoop (I have to step up inside of my house anyway. I might as well shorten the distance!). Some anti-slip flooring that attracts my eye is recycled rubber (which can go on steps too), composite decking, paver tiles, or deck tiles. Anti-slip flooring would last longer than anti-slip coating and prevent me from slipping on my stoop when the rain and ice hits.
Lastly, you can place anti-slip treads on the stoop and step to give more friction to your feet when going in and out of the house. Anti-slip treads come in strips or tape form to make it easy to apply where you prefer. Slip Doctors sells rolls of anti-slip tape with different widths to give you the choice to create the length you need for your home.
You can find anti-slip treads in all kinds of colors including clear! The price range is $15-35 per unit. I recommend you seriously consider the black non-slip tread with the reflective strip to avoid falling at home.
4) Portico
A portico is a part of the roof that hangs over your main entryway. I technically do not have a portico; part of the roof hangs over the door about 12 inches, which makes it nice and dry for the first step out the door!
Sutton Group Preferred Realty
It would be lovely to have a portico cover my little 3’x4’ stoop to protect it from rain and snow. I wouldn’t worry about slipping on the stoop because it would remain dry.
Building a portico isn’t cheap, but there are other options. You could consider using a canopy, a patio cover, pavilion, or retractable awnings. With so many choices, it’s easy to plan and decide what will work best for your finances and aesthetics.
At the end of the day, I just don’t want you or me to fall, capiche? Look over these fall prevention tips and choose what’s going to work out best for you!
Please comment down below and tell me how you prevent falls in the fall! You may help somebody else out with your experience!
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