Whether your insurance clients own a house or rent an apartment, there's no excuse for notmaking home safety a priority.

Along with the peace of mind, these steps will go a long way inmitigating potential liabilities and avoiding costly insuranceclaims.

Taking some quick and easy steps can do wonders for increasingthe safety and security of every person's home.

Check out our list of simple solutions to make sure yourresidence is as safe as it can be:

Related: How well do you know condo insuranceexclusions?

Smoke alarm batteries should be replaced at least once ayear. (Photo: Shutterstock)

1. Check your smoke detectors.

Per the National Fire Protection Association, three outof every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with nosmoke alarms (38%) or no working smoke alarms (21%) between 2009and 2013. Dead batteries caused one-quarter of the smoke alarmfailures. To ensure this doesn't happen in your home, make suresmoke detectors are present and check themregularly by pressing and holding the test button on the smokedetector.

After a few seconds, if a loud, piercing sound has not begunemanating from the smoke detector, either the battery or the smokedetector needs to be replaced. If a sound comes out but is weak,the battery should be replaced. Smoke alarm batteries should bereplaced at least once a year — a good rule of thumb is to do thisalong with other safety precautions at the “Spring Forward” timechange each year.

Related: Top 100 U.S. cities with the highest risk of homefires, ranked by The Hartford [infographic]

Keeping a fire extinguisher in your kitchen, and knowing howto use it, is highly recommended. (Photo:Shutterstock)

2. Keep a kitchen fire extinguisher.

Between 2010 and 2014, almost half of reported homestructure fires (46%) involved cooking equipment. Keeping a fireextinguisher in your kitchen, and knowing how to use it, can helpyou keep grease fires and other kitchen fires contained with minimaldamage to your home.

When you purchase a fire extinguisher, contact your local firedepartment for training on how to use the extinguisher, andremember the word PASS when using the equipment:

• Pull the pin and hold the extinguisher with the nozzle pointingaway from you;
• aim low, pointing the extinguisher at the base of thefire;
• squeeze the lever slowly and evenly;
• sweep the nozzle from side to side.

Related: 10 dos and don'ts to prevent homefires

Be sure to protect children from inappropriate mediacontent. (Photo: Shutterstock)

3. Take safety measures for TV and internet service.

If you have young children in the home, making sure they cannotaccess dangerous media content through your television or internetservice is essential. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, childrenbetween 8–18 spend an average of seven and a half hours a day usingvarious forms of entertainment media, including TV and theinternet, and the time spent interacting with various mediasurpasses all other activities, excluding sleep.

Choosing the right TV package and using parental control software on computers anddevices in the home can protect children from inappropriatecontent.

Related: Top 10 smart home technologies for homeowners over50

Protect young children from electic shock by covering allelectirical outlets in your home. (Photo:Shutterstock)

4. Cover your outlets.

When childproofing your home, one of the simplest solutions fora common danger is to cover electrical outlets in your home.American Academy of Pediatrics research showsthat young children, particularly toddlers, most often experienceelectric shock when poking metal objects into unprotected outletsor appliances. Many more tips along these lines are covered inSafewise's Room by Room Safety Guide.

Related: 5 factors to minimize home-relatedrisks

Water damage can cause extensive and costly damage.(Photo: Shutterstock)

5. Use water detectors in rooms likely to flood.

Water from both inside (plumbing leaks) and outside (flooding)the home can cause damage that is both severe and severelyexpensive to fix. The Insurance Information Institute found thatthe average damage claim was $7,958 for water damage, freezing, and mold between 2010 and 2014. Using waterdetectors in rooms likely to be affected can prevent largeinsurance claims and save money in the long run.

Related: Have a backup generator? Make sure you do these 13things

Having working locks on your doors may seem like thesimplest solution for home safety, but smart locks take that safetyand protection to a whole new level. (Photo:Shutterstock)

6. Install smart locks.

There is a wide range of smart locks available, from thosewhere you still use a key to those that are entirely digital,operated through apps on your mobile phone. Through your mobilephone, provided you're connected to the internet, you can make sureyour home is locked even when you work down the road or you're onvacation halfway across the world. Having working locks on yourdoors may seem like the simplest solution for home safety, butsmart locks take that safety and protection to a whole newlevel.

Related: Help clients protect their homes during the summertravel season

Taking just a little time and effort makes a world of differencewhen it comes to the safety of your home, and the money you spend to keep your home safe faroutweighs the cost, in the long run, of not taking these simpleprecautions.

Sage Singleton is a home and communitysafety expert for SafeWise. She can be reachedat [email protected].