Now it’s time to start applying the twelve principles of home management. What does the principle of safety involve?
This post is the first in a series of twelve post expanding a little bit on what each of the 12 Principles of Home Management involve. You can read an overview of the 12 Principles here.
Home management is, of course, about managing what goes on inside the home. That is, managing household resources, needs, tasks, projects, etc. However, it also extends beyond the four wall of the dwelling to anything that belongs to the household (the yard, the garage, gardens, out buildings ~ the entire property).
While all of those things don’t always fall directly under home management, all of the home management principles do apply to them. You do want to keep all of your home safe, not just the inside. Also, a home is much more than the place you live. It’s the people who live there.
When you’re considering the principle of safety, take into consideration not only the inside of your home but also the outside, and the members of the household no matter where they are.
One very obvious aspect of safety (and probably the first thing we all think of when we think of home safety!) is physical safety, so let’s look at that first.
Physical safety
Physical safety involves:
The safety of persons (both those who live in the home and visitors)
The safety of property (including goods and buildings)
And, if you have pets or livestock, the safety of those animals
Major Physical Safety Considerations
- Fire Safety
- Weather Issues/Natural Disasters (for example: Hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, fire, earthquakes, lightning strikes, wind, snow and ice, extreme cold or heat)
- Intruders (as well as thieves that don’t actually intrude but just swipe stuff outside the home)
- Food safety
- Poisoning/Toxins (in water or air, cleaning products and other substances)
- Falls and other accidents
- Child safety
Not So Physical Safety
- Financial safety ~ not all thieves break into your house and steal cash!
- Identity theft
- Fraud/Scams
- Internet Safety (especially for children)
Mental/Emotional Safety
This can involve protection against attacks from outside from people (such as bullying) or media, or from just . . . life. But . . . it also involves the relationships and behavior of the members of the family. At all levels, not just, as long as you’re not abusing each other it’s all good. We don’t even want to hurt each other accidentally! Home needs to be a safe place internally, and also a refuge from an unsafe and uncomfortable world.
Spiritual /Moral Safety
We need to protect our families from deception and immorality. From worldliness, and sin, and godlessness. What can you do to protect your home?
Wrap Up
So, when you are applying the principle of safety in your home, look at those three things: physical safety (and all the many things it involves), mental/emotional safety, and spiritual/moral safety.
Can you think of any other major categories we need to look at when we are applying the principle of safety to our homes?
