Designing for safety You can significantly reduce the risk of slips, trips and falls if your home is designed and maintained  with safety in mind. Here?s some things to think about. General safety considerations By incorporating safety features at the design stage you won?t necessarily have to spend more. For example, small changes in level, such as single steps increase your fall risk. By designing your home without single steps you reduce your trip or fall risk and it shouldn?t cost you any more. Some other considerations are to: Avoid lips at doorways to the outside, but ensure there is adequate drainage Use fitted carpet Install a fixed heating system so you don?t need portable heating appliances with cables trailing across the floor Provide light switches at the entry door of rooms, corridors and stairs. Fit security stays on low-level windows to prevent them from obstructing paths or walkways outdoors. Front Path The Building Code requires that the path from the street to the front door is sufficiently slip resistant so you can safely enter and exit your home. For homes built before 1992 there were no specific slip resistance requirements. Slip resistance is the ability of a finished floor surface to provide sufficient friction to reduce the risk of injury from slipping. If the path gets wet, then it must not be slippery when wet. Paths and driveways need to be: Well lit. Sensor lights mean you are not lighting the area unnecessarily. Level. Don?t design the path with