Now that spring is here, I’m thinking about spring cleaning and gardening. Before I get started on the mountain of chores that this entails, I’m really glad that the people at the Home Safety Council clued me in to one of the hidden dangers of these tasks.

According to the Home Safety Council’s research, poisoning is the second leading cause of home injury related death. 2.3 million cases of exposure to poison are reported each year with more than half of these cases happening to children under 6 years old.

Before you dive into your spring chores, make sure that your household cleaners, chemicals and other potential poisons are out of reach of kids and pets.

Here are a few easy things that the Home Safety Council suggests you can do to reduce your family’s risk of being exposed to household poisons:

• Read product labels and lock away anything with the words “Caution,” “Warning,” or “Danger” on the label.
• Keep dangerous products away from food and drinks.
• Properly use and maintain fueled appliances.
• Install a Carbon Monoxide detector.
• Post the Poison Control Help number (1-800-222-1222) and other emergency numbers next to every phone and store them in cell phones.