10 Steps to Childproofing Your Home Office

Susan Ward

While those of us who work at home may dream of beavering away in isolated splendor, the reality is that our home office spaces are also living spaces where spouses and kids and pets and work all co-mingle.  Small children love to play and explore, sticking small fingers into all kinds of spaces we would never think of sticking ours. So it’s important to make sure that our home office spaces are as child safe and pet safe as we can make them.

Here are 10 steps to childproofing your home office:

1) Put the small stuff away.

Rubber bands, paper clips, paper – a lot of innocuous looking office supplies can be choking hazards to small children. So keep them put away in drawers.

2) Secure the child-reach zone.

Toddlers especially love to grab things to steady themselves or pull themselves up.   Secure anything that could topple over on your child and put corner cushions on your office furniture’s dangerous edges.

3) Nix or fix the blinds.

Many children have been injured or killed with dangling cords from window blinds.  The best way to avoid this is to get rid of it.  If you’re going to keep blinds,  loop them up and secure the cords so children can’t get at them.

4) Secure all cords and wires.

Loose cords and wires are a hazard to people of any age.  Wires or cables near your home office can be taped or stapled down as close to walls as possible to decrease the chance that people will trip over them.

5) Cover all the outlets.

It’s important to put outlet covers over all the exposed outlets.   If you have a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) in your office, you should get a cover for it, too.

6) Put magnets and/or locks on doors and drawers.

Simple magnets on the insides of cupboard doors can deter your children from opening the cupboards by making the doors more difficult to open, or even better, invest in some locks.

7) Get your computer off the ground.

If you have a PC, protect it from sticky hands or the possibility of having something jammed into the disk drive by moving it to a higher position, like the top of your desk.

8 ) Use your computer’s security features.

Get in the habit of logging off so no one can use the computer without logging in.  Punching keys or buttons is something children find irresistible and if you leave your document in an accessible mode, it may be gone when you come back.

9 ) Control entrances and exits.

Door knob covers prevent your children from entering or leaving your office without your knowledge.  Safety gates and play pens work well to keep small children where you can keep an eye on them and away from potential dangers.

10) Put your paper shredder away.

The sharp teeth of a paper shredder can be dangerous to children even when it’s not turned on. Move your shredder to a position out of reach of small children.

Being able to spend more time with your children is one of the great things about working at home.  But if your children are going to be spending time in your home office, you need to make sure your office is a safe place for them to be.  Fortunately, childproofing your home office isn’t expensive or difficult; it’s mainly a matter of taking the time to make things safe.

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