Thursday, 01 October 2009 17:32

Product and Food Recalls: What You Can Do to Protect Your Family

When thinking about keeping your household safe, consider that some products you bought may have been recalled due to defects without you knowing about it. It might seem hard to find the time to search out all products that have been recalled, but several websites are available to help make the process easier. By focusing on specific product categories, you can prevent possible injury from a defective product without investing a lot of time. Product recalls are important in preventing injury, especially in products used by children. Despite recall notices and warnings, many potentially harmful products are still in use by consumers. Unless a recall makes national news, consumers may not know that a recall is in place. Often people don't choose to look for recalls because they don't know where to look. Many web sites are available to research products. Most helpful information can be found on the Government of Canada website – Health Canada site www.hc-sc.gc.ca for product recalls and www.inspection.gc.ca for food recalls and allergy alerts.

Prevent an accident before it happens. If you do come across a defective product, report it to help keep other consumers safe. Having a safe household and peace of mind is worth a little time, effort, and attention to products in your home. A little effort can go a long way towards protecting your family.

Safety Corner – Be Sun Safe!

By: Danae Kortmann-Watts

We all like to work, play and relax outside on a sunny day. The warm rays of the sun feel good on our skin. Too much sun can be harmful, so be careful!

Here are some reminders of how to be SUN SAFE this summer:

• • Plan to be outside in the early morning or late afternoon.

  Stay in the shade and out of the hot sun between 11 a.m.and 4 p.m.

• If you are in the sun between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., wear long pants, long sleeves and a hat with a wide brim to protect your skin from sunburn.

• Use a sunscreen that says “broad-spectrum” on the label. It will screen out most of the UVA and UVB rays.

• Put sunscreen on your skin 20 minutes before you go out and reapply 20 minutes after being out in the sun to ensure even application of the product and better protection.

• Don’t forget your lips, ears and nose. These parts of your body burn easily.

• Sunscreen gets washed off by water and sweat. So, put more sunscreen on after you go swimming or if you are sweating.

• Wear sunglasses that provide UVA and UVB protection.

Safety Corner – SAFETY TIPS  - October 2010

Written by: Danae Kortmann-Watts – Community Safety Liaison

Safety and crime prevention is a lot of things you might not think of; it’s more than just locks, alarms and keeping an eye open for suspicious characters. Each of us is involved in crime prevention activities in our daily lives. Reaching out to new neighbours, making them feel like they belong; mentoring children and youth or acting as good role models as community volunteers; coaching recreational sports teams; helping seniors living nearby by shoveling their walk or keeping their lawn mowed. All these activities contribute to making our community safe and healthy.

This safety corner will focus on safety tips for you, your family, property and our community.

Personal Safety - Protecting yourself is just as important as protecting your home or property. Here are a few things to remember:

• • Pick safe routes to get to your destination.
  • At night, take routes that are well lit and have other people in the area.
  • If you’re using transit, stand or ride near others - do not isolate yourself.
  • Walk/run with others if possible.
  • If you’re carrying small personal electronics, like an iPod, conceal it under your clothes.

Property and Home Safety - Your home is the most valuable asset you have and it is worth protecting. Here are some tips to help you keep your home safe:

•  
  • If out of the house for an extended period of time, create the illusion that someone may still be home. Leave a TV or stereo on in the room where a burglar would most likely break in. Use exterior lighting and motion detectors to minimize burglar concealment.
  • Make sure all exterior doors have good proper locks.
  • If you get an unexpected knock at the door, check to see who it is before opening it.
  • Do not leave extra keys under doormats, potted plants or any other obvious outdoor location. Thieves will generally find them. Find an inconspicuous place to hide the keys, or give a set to a neighbor you can trust.
  • Burglar-proof your glass patio doors by setting a pipe or metal bar in the middle bottom track of the door slide. The pipe should be the same length as the track.
  • Keep garage doors shut and automatic door openers out of site.
  • Keep drapes and blinds shut - especially in rooms where there is expensive equipment. Don't advertise the items in your home.

Community Safety – The most important way to keep Parkview safe is to WORK TOGETHER!

• • Theft and/or Mischief

  • Break and Enters into homes/businesses/garages/vehicles

  • Disturbances/Noise complaints

  • Property damage collisions where vehicles are not driveable

  • Parking Offences/abandoned autos

  • Neighbour/Family disputes

  • Suspicious persons/vehicles

  • Suspicious folks wandering/scouting the neighbourhood

Get to know your neighbors and their children so you can look out for one another.

Watch out for suspicious and unusual behavior in our neighborhood and REPORT anything you think may be suspicious to the police complaint line – even if you think it is petty, it is important… it will bring awareness to Police so they can deal with the issues accordingly.

Examples of things to report to the Police Complaint Line (780-423-4567) are:

Holiday Crime Prevention Tips At Home

With Christmas just around the corner here are some tips to ensure you and your family have a safe and happy holiday.

Keep the outside of your home well lit with doors locked and window curtains closed.
Don’t display gifts beneath the Christmas tree that can be seen from windows or doors.
After the holidays, don’t advertise gifts received by the boxes left for the garbage collection. Destroy boxes and place in a sealed, non-clear garbage bag.

Have a safe and happy holiday!!

Safety Corner - Prevention is the Key to a Healthy Community

Last month I met with our Community Liaison EPS member and outlined some of the concerns of Parkview residents, including traffic issues and petty crimes.

The Edmonton Police Service has developed a crime mapping application for the public to view crime in neighbourhoods across the city. Neighbourhood crime is more than just numbers; it’s about knowing where crime is happening in the area you live. Knowing the real picture of neighborhoods crime is the first step in doing something about it.

By accessing this timely information on reported crime, we will be able to know what is happening in our neighbourhood. By knowing what is going on, we can work together to reduce and prevent crime. To find out more log onto www.edmontonpolice.ca

Making a difference in Parkview

We need to act on this knowledge and create solutions. We begin to make a difference by knowing what’s really going on in our neighborhoods. Please report any suspicious persons/behavior to 780-423-4567. Examples of things to report are:

• Thefts/Mischiefs

• Break and Enters into homes/businesses

• Disturbances/Noise complaints

• Property damage collisions where vehicles are not driveable

• Parking Offences/abandoned autos

• Neighbour/Family disputes

• Suspicious persons/vehicles

Traffic Concerns….SLOW DOWN!

We as a community need to slow down and respect all traffic signals. Edmonton Police were out in our community conducting traffic enforcement in different sections in our neighbourhood and did issue several tickets to local residents. We need to set an example to our neighbours and visitors on how we want people to drive on our roads.

To get involved from a community perspective EPS recommended we review the speedwatch and pace car programs. The following links provide information on the programs and how to proceed should these programs interest the members of Parkview. I encourage you to check them out.
http://www.edmonton.ca/transportation/roads_traffic/speed-watch.aspx

http://www.edmonton.ca/transportation/roads_traffic/pace-cars.aspx

If you are interested in volunteering to spearhead either of these programs please contact me.

‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’….

Have you noticed an increase of bottle pickers in our neighbourhood? Bottle pickers are raiding blue bags, digging around for refundable containers. The number keeps increasing as these people discover that there is money to be made in Parkview. To reduce this activity and reduce litter please consider the following:

• Do not put refundables in blue bags – keep for the next bottle drive

• Do not put out your garbage until the night before or day of garbage pick up – for scheduled pick up please log onto http://maps.edmonton.ca/scripts/titles/gadgets/my_property.asp

• To prevent littering, make sure all loose materials like grass cuttings, light plastics, and bits of paper are put into bags or boxes.

• Take oversized garbage like tree cuttings or furniture to the eco-station or the dump.

 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding Safety Corner article please contact Danae at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call me at 780-481-5552.