Although it’s how you get from point A to point B in your home, the hallway is often overlooked while critiquing a home’s safety. Check out these steps to help you secure your staircases and hallways.

1. Smoke alarms: Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in these areas because these may be escape routes when your home alarm system alerts you to an emergency.
2. Nightlights: Light pathways with plug-in nightlights to help prevent falls.
3. Rugs: Secure edges with tape so they won’t slide around. Also prevent falls by picking up stray items.
4. Handrails: Install handrails on stairways (and safety grips if a senior is in your home) to help in everyday maneuvering.
5. Safety gates: Find one that fits your needs, whether it’s to keep a wandering toddler or puppy from getting up and down stairs. But learn how to disengage it so you can get out when your ADT home security system sounds in an emergency.

It’s easy to leave the car running and leave your GPS in the passenger seat while you grab the mail or run into a store. But these habits increase your chances of falling victim to auto theft.  And it’s important to know that auto theft prevention is about more than simply locking your car doors. Here are a few tips for keeping your car and the belongings inside it secure:

1. Park in a garage: If your garage is full of junk and tools, clean it out. Parking your car in the garage makes it that much harder for thieves to break into it. This will also put your vehicle under the protection of your home alarm system. If you don’t have a garage, park your car as far into the driveway as possible. Keeping the driveway well lit at night is helpful, too.
2. Hide valuables: Never leave personal items or valuables like driver’s licenses, bills, jewelry or mp3 players in your vehicle. Also hide any CDs or cords to electronics that hint your pricey items may be in the car.
3. Get a security system: Vehicle security is almost as important as home security. Many vehicles already come with security systems. Learn how yours works and how to arm it. If you don’t have a car alarm, explore options like windows and glass-break sensors.

Babysitting can be stressful – for both the babysitter and the parents trusting him or her. A few safety precautions can be a good back up to the home alarm system that already helps protect your home and family.

Share these safety tips with your babysitter to help put your mind at ease:

• Get acquainted with the home: Know the address and contact information, and how to lock all the doors and windows. Learn the locations of First-Aid supplies, fire exits, fire extinguishers, and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Also be aware of the security system. Identify a neighbor who will be available for help in case of an emergency.

• Be on the alert: Keep a pencil and paper by the phone. If you see or hear anything suspicious near the home, stay in the locked house, call the police and turn on outdoor lights.

• Don’t give yourself away: Never open the door to strangers or tell callers you are babysitting. Instead, tell them you are visiting the home and will deliver messages to the owners. However, be sure your parents or someone else knows where you are and how long you will be there.

Keeping up your home’s aesthetics and functionality is important. However, finding a safe, reliable contractor to help you do this is just as vital when your family and home’s security could potentially be put at risk. So keep these precautions in mind when searching for and hiring a contractor:

1. Decide what you want: Determine what should be done before you contact contractors, so you don’t get talked into work that you didn’t consider before.
2. Get recommendations: Ask friends, family members and acquaintances for recommendations. Hardware stores and consumer-rating websites like Angie’s List are also good sources to check out. If any red flags come up, eliminate those contractors from your list. Compromising your home security isn’t worth saving a few bucks.
3. Compare candidates: Check to see if contractors have experience in and are licensed to do the desired work. Also get estimates for what you want done.
4. Get it in writing: Get a copy of everything you sign, and make sure it has all your stipulations and you understand it.
5. Pay when the work is complete: Make sure all work is complete before you pay your final bill.

As summer vacation approaches, children will have more time to wander around the house and get into trouble. Keep in mind that home safety doesn’t stop at alarm systems, or the main interior of your home.

Take the time now to organize your garage and tool shed with these tips so that little hands won’t have access to hazardous objects and substances:

• Use kid-proofing instruments: Treat the garage as any other part of the house you’ve already kid-proofed with outlet covers, drawer and door latches and other safety devices.

• Be careful with garage doors: Keep all garage door remotes out of reach, and look for models with counter-balance systems and automatic ones with features that stop or reverse doors when they come in contact with an object.

• Secure large equipment: Store ladders horizontally so children can’t climb on them, and keep sharp, large objects like rakes and shovels in a locked cabinet or secured on a wall in a low-traffic area.

• Hide harmful substances: Store and lock up all harmful substances so they are out of your child’s reach. If a child swallows a potentially poisonous substance, call the National Capital Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222 and have the product’s packaging in hand.

While you worry about home security, and staying air-conditioned and hydrated during the hot summer months, your pet may be suffering the effects of warm weather. According to the ASPCA, pets can also suffer from heat stroke, sunburn and dehydration if exposed to summer heat.

Keep your furry friends safe and cool with these safety tips.

• Routine check-up: Schedule a routine spring or early summer appointment with your vet and ask him or her about flea and tick control programs.

• Just a trim: Give your dog a summer hair cut by shaving down to about one inch from the skin and brush your cat more often than usual to get rid of excess hair to prevent overheating.

• Hidden hazards: Keep any household chemicals or substances like pesticides, and flea and tick repellants locked up and away from pets so they won’t ingest them and get poisoned.

• Cool and content: Provide your pet with plenty of shade to stay out of the sun. Never leave a pet unattended in a vehicle in any weather. Vehicles can become extremely hot quickly and cause your pet to have a heat stroke.

• Safe hydration: Make sure pets have plenty of clean, fresh water. Never leave pets unattended around pools or let them drink pool water, which has chlorine and other chemicals that can make them sick. Introduce them to water gradually and make sure that they wear flotation devices at all times when they’re on boats.

Summer is nearing its end, and that means children across America will soon be hearing that first bell that kicks off the new school year. That makes some kids happy and other kids sad, but regardless, every child needs to understand that safety and home security take top priority. There are too many potential hazards out there to give this anything less than your full attention. Look below for tips to help ensure your child’s safety this school year.

Perform Some Bus Stop Recon: No matter whether it’s your kid’s first or hundredth ride, it pays to spend a few minutes scouting out the place where he or she will wait for the bus. If there is a walk from your home involved, take the time for a practice run.

Replay Home Security Basics: Now is as good a time as ever to go over your expectations for keeping your home protected. If your child is old enough to operate the ADT home alarm, have them show you how to do it. This is especially important if the child will be left alone.

Talk to Neighbors: Have a discussion with the folks living around you about expectations for the new school year. Consider setting up a schedule to take care of each others’ kids if an adult isn’t always available in both homes.

Lay Out Rules for Older Children: Kids in high school and college represent a whole different set of challenges. Sit your child down and have a frank talk about the dangers involved with operating a motor vehicle, especially in cases where alcohol is involved. Parents are the number one deterrent for bad behavior, so take the few minutes to speak to your kids.

As the dog days of August turn into cooler September rain showers, make sure your children are safe. Practice these home safety and school safety tips. There’s nothing more precious than their well-being, and you should take every step possible to ensure it.

Packing for safety is key. It is important to always take along things like a personal alarm, a door alarm, cash carriers and passport jackets.  It is also important to keep everything important, such as money and documents, close to your body where they’re harder for someone to steal. Not in an inside pocket or fanny pack, but a money belt or harness that is worn inside your clothing. Especially when traveling overseas.

For example, a woman in the Paris train station sat her fanny pack with her and her husband’s passports, their traveler’s cheques, and their cell phone all on top of her suitcase. When she turned sideways to bend down beside the suitcase and look inside their backpack, everything was stolen in the blink of an eye. A busy train station with people walking by and bumping into one another was all it took for someone to casually pick up the fanny pack and leave my friends stranded in a foreign country without cash and their passports.  They hadn’t even purchased their train ticket yet, so they couldn’t get to the American Embassy. Their first mistake was putting everything they had in one central location. They should have each had their own passports on their bodies.  Each of them should have had money and traveler’s cheques hidden on their bodies. Their cell phones that had all of their phone numbers stored inside them should have been separated inside luggage and a duffel bag, and they should have had a back-up system like a written copy of emergency numbers.

Personal alarms can protect you if you’re out and someone tries to mug you or if you’re in a situation where you simply feel uncomfortable. By pulling a wire out of a handheld device, an ear piercing alarm is emitted that will scare off a potential attacker and attract attention to you. A door alarm will do the same, except it is like a bumper placed at the foot of the door that will sound if someone tries to gain entry.

If you go on vacation, especially to a foreign country where you might not be fluent in the language, be careful about what you pack. Make sure you’re taking the safety items you need to make your vacation a success. Do it right and your only worries will be how much stuff you lug home!

As for the safety of your home while you are away, ADT home security has been protecting American homes for over one hundred years. Their monitoring professionals are quick to respond. Remember to travel safe, and keep your home security level up while you travel.

Your family’s safety is priceless. If you thought that home security was beyond your budget and unreachable, you’re plain wrong. There are numerous ways to protect your loved ones without breaking the bank. Check out some ways to bolster your home security inexpensively below.

Change Up Your Locks: For less than 50 dollars, you can swap out old locks for new. Think how many neighbors, handymen, and dogwalkers you’ve given keys in the past couple of years. Even dependable people have moments of weakness; prevent a break-in by making those keys worthless.

Add a Home Alarm System: If you were under the impression that a home security system was out of reach, think again. ADT offers great deals on great home protection, with freebies including installation and equipment. For less than a one hundred dollar initial outlay of cash, you can set your house up with the safety net your family deserves.

Get Your Hands Dirty Gardening: Who would have thought that Mother Nature could make your family safer? By obscuring windows with shrubbery and adding rose bushes to low entrance points, you can keep potential burglars guessing. You don’t need to hire a professional landscaper; head to the garden supply store yourself, and spend a pleasant weekend installing some gorgeous new features.

Start a Neighborhood Watch Group: This one’s free: talk to the folks on your street, and see if they’re interested in starting a neighborhood watch group. If you’re the proud owner of an ADT home alarm system, let them know just how satisfied you are. A neighborhood filled with properly secured homes will send potential intruders scurrying on to the next block.

Improving home security should be a priority for any concerned property owner. With these easy tips and a home security system from ADT, you’re house or apartment will stay protected all the time.

Summer is winding its way down, and that means Labor Day is quickly approaching. As always, June and July flew by, and Memorial Day and the 4th of July are distant memories. You’ve kept your family safe throughout the hot days and nights, and now’s no time to quit. Here are some home security tips for maintaining that same level of safety for the upcoming Labor Day holiday.

Home Alarm - Don’t Forget to Set It: Your ADT home security system has monitored your home while you were away all summer long. When you go away this Labor Day, make sure you don’t forget to arm it. Burglars know just as well as you do that summer’s last harrah means vacant houses waiting to be picked off.

Fireworks – Don’t forget about Fire Safety: Have some fireworks left over from July 4th? Be careful when lighting them off, especially if you live in a dry area. In many parts of the United States, this summer hasn’t brought much rain, which means the risk of fire is greater than at any other point. Your home security depends on the wise choices you make, so take care and don’t play with fire.

Don’t Forget About Mother Nature: Folks in hurricane-prone areas should stay cautious, as Labor Day falls right into the prime time for late summer tempests. Have an emergency action plan ready, in case disaster strikes. In any case, you can feel secure about your home’s continued protection against intrusion: ADT’s four interconnected command centers mean that even if one location goes down, the system remains up and running.

Enjoy Labor Day, and remember to share these home security reminders with your family, keeping them safe as back to school gets closer and Fall approaches.