How safe is your home office? If you have a separate room for your home office and can close a door (even lock it) when you are not working that is ideal. It makes ensuring the safety of your children easier. For many of us though, we don't have a separate room for our home offices.
Basic Planning Tips
When you are initially setting up your home office, it makes sense to spend the extra time to ensure that your office is childproof or pet safe as the case may be. Even if you don't have children of your own, you may have company who bring children. Children being the curious little people they are will always be tempted especially by what they see in home offices. Animals of course are always curious by anything that moves or they imagine moves.
My initial home office was in a self-enclosed location, so my biggest concern was to make sure there were no wires or cords to tempt my boys. Now that my office is in a more open and visible location, I've had to make sure that I've arranged my equipment and desk so that cords and wires are still out of reach and any piece of equipment that might be tempting is securely in place. I've had to re-evaluate my home office yet again with a toddler now present and make some changes. How quickly we forget what might tempt a little person.
INFANT – not independently mobile
Play yards and playpens are an excellent way to keep your little one safe; they even work well for puppies and kittens that you don’t want wandering around unsupervised.
With play yards and playpens, always check the maximum height and weight restrictions. Even though your little one isn’t fully mobile, if they exceed weight/height restrictions the play area becomes an unsafe environment for them.
At this age, it’s best if your office is totally off-limits. Don’t allow them to be in the office or bring them in. It will just make them more curious and want to explore. They will also not understand that they can’t touch things that look so appealing.
INFANT - crawling stage
Get down on the floor and view your office from the child's perspective. What do you see that could be easily grabbed or pulled over? Brightly coloured items on shelves are always attractive; consider moving them to a cupboard or area where they won't be as visible. How many cords and wires are visible? Use cord containment systems, even vacuum cleaner hoses work great for sliding cords through to protect them.
Children at this age love to explore the world with their mouths, so it's important to make sure there are no paperclips, staples or other small items left on the floor. Even scraps of paper can be a hazard. Make sure your phone is out of reach as well, you don't need any unexplained long distance charges on your phone bill.
TODDLER - cruising, walking stages
At this age it's even more tempting for a child to explore your home office and see what they can find. Make sure you maintain the safety practices you started when your child was younger.
Make sure any shelving units are attached to a wall so that they cannot be pulled over on top of the child. Even with low height shelves it's wise to anchor them to prevent tipping.
Drawers will be a temptation and most can easily be pulled open (and of course emptied even quicker). Put child safety latches on the drawers – there are enough varieties available to suit any type of drawer.
SCHOOL AGE
I've found that short of bolting everything in place, it can be tricky to make sure children don't get into things. The biggest draws for them are paper, pens, tape and glue. Of course the best solution has been to make sure they have their own supplies and don't need to raid your office.
Keep a box in your office with child safe items: paper, crayons, an old keyboard and other items that can be used by your child so they can feel a part of things but not be in any danger.
General Tips:
For children of all ages, it's important to keep printer inks and toners in a location which can be securely locked. Scanners and printers should be kept either in a cabinet space or high enough that they cannot be reached or have things dropped or thrown at them. Sharp edges should be covered, even grownups can get hurt on a corner.
Anytime you are not working in your home office, be sure that everything is put away and nothing tempting is left out. That way if you aren't nearby, you know that the home office space is safe and no harm can come to your child.
