Meri-K Appy

The Home Safety Council is trying to make safety fun.

The national nonprofit dedicated to preventing home-related injuries recently launched a new interactive, consumer-friendly Web site (www.homesafetycouncil.org) intended to keep families safe.

"We've been realizing more and more people choose to get information online," said Meri-K Appy, the Home Safety Council president. "With safety information, people don't have an understanding of the things that would put them in danger -- the leading cause of accidents. Folks assume home is a safe place to be."

If people want to make changes, she said, they aren't sure of what to do, they think it will take a lot of time and they believe it will be too expensive.

With the new Web site, Ms. Appy said, "we want to bring safety messages to life, to make them more interesting, more fun, more colorful."

Among the tips she said the site offers are the importance of replacing smoke alarms periodically and the importance of having a fire safety plan.

While 96 percent of homes have smoke alarms, Ms. Appy said, "that doesn't mean they're in working order." Alarms at least 10 years old have a "sensitivity drift," she said.

Although 99 percent of people believe home safety is important, she said, only 13 percent have practiced a home fire drill. It's important in a fire to get everyone outside to safety in about three minutes. Without a plan, it's not likely they'll get out, she said.

The coolest interactive aspect of the new site, according to Ms. Appy, is the online tour of a home.

"You can go room by room," she said, "and see all the things that might be hidden hazards and what to do about them."