Home Safety Checklist

Each of the 37 checklist items is assigned a risk weight based on how much it typically affects fall and emergency risk: High Priority items count for 3 points, Recommended items count for 2 points, and Nice-to-Have items count for 1 point. Your score is the percentage of total possible points earned from the items you checked. A higher score means more of the highest-impact safety features are already in place in your home.

Leave those items unchecked. The checklist is designed as a general home safety baseline, so items that genuinely don't apply (such as stairs in a single-story home) will lower your score slightly, but the rest of your report — especially the High Priority and Recommended sections for areas that DO apply to you — remains fully useful. We'd rather you see an honest score than skip sections, since most homes have at least some version of every area covered.

A lower score is not a diagnosis or a judgment — it simply means there are specific, identifiable opportunities to make the home safer, many of which are quick and inexpensive. Scores in the "Needs Attention" or "High Risk" range are extremely common, especially in homes that haven't been updated since the people living there were younger and more mobile. The goal of this tool is to turn a vague worry ("is Mom's house safe?") into a clear, prioritized list of specific actions.

We recommend retaking it every 6 to 12 months, or anytime there's a meaningful change — after a fall or near-fall, after a hospital stay, after a new diagnosis affecting mobility or vision, or after moving to a new home. Home safety isn't a one-time project; needs change as health and mobility change over time, and a checklist that scored 85% two years ago may no longer reflect the current situation.

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Not necessarily. Many checklist items are about habits and awareness rather than purchases — keeping walkways clear of clutter, wiping up spills immediately, or discussing a fire escape plan cost nothing. Where a physical item is genuinely the safest option (grab bars, handrails, smoke detectors), your action plan will say so clearly, but the goal is an honest assessment of your home as it is today, not a shopping list.

Yes — this is one of the most common ways people use this tool. If you're an adult child assessing a parent's home, either walk through the house with the checklist on your phone, or go room by room from memory and revisit anything you're unsure about on your next visit. Many families find it helpful to do this together with the parent, since it opens a natural, non-confrontational conversation about safety rather than feeling like an intervention.

High Priority items are the checklist entries most strongly linked to the leading causes of home injuries among older adults — things like grab bars, handrails, clear walkways, smoke detectors, and adequate lighting on stairs. These carry the most weight in your score and appear first in your action plan. Recommended items provide meaningful additional protection but are typically lower-cost to address or apply to a narrower set of situations. Nice-to-Haves round out a thorough setup but are the lowest priority if your time or budget is limited.

No single checklist can cover every possible scenario — individual health conditions, medications, vision changes, and cognitive factors all play a role that a general checklist can't fully capture. This tool is designed as a strong, research-informed baseline covering the most common and highest-impact issues. For a more personalized assessment, especially after a fall, surgery, or new diagnosis, an in-home visit from an occupational therapist or Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) is the gold standard.

This checklist is designed to work alongside two other free tools. If your action plan includes physical modifications — grab bars, ramps, stairlifts, walk-in showers — the Home Modification Cost Calculator shows realistic 2025 US cost ranges for each one, plus financial assistance programs. If "a medical alert device is always within reach" comes up unchecked, the Medical Alert System Comparison tool is a 3-minute quiz that matches you to the right system for your situation and budget. Your results page links directly to both.