Get Ready podcast: Creating healthy, safe homes

We spend a lot of time at home. So it’s important to make sure that the places we live are safe. It starts with where our houses are built and how they are made. That’s why we need to know and understand local health threats before we build. If people know the risks common to their area, it’s easier to build to help guard against them.

Still, homes that have health problems are located all over the U.S. Many put people in contact with health threats like radon, lead and more.

In our new podcast, APHA’s Get Ready campaign spoke with Dr. Warren Friedman, senior advisor to the director at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, to learn more about making safe homes.

CDC // Theresa Roebuck

Dr. Friedman’s office targets the roots of these problems. Instead of just cleaning up, they figure out where and how the problem starts.

Even with good preparation though, emergencies happen. Dr. Freidman noted that we learn a lot of lessons after disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. He said as we rebuild affected communities we take those lessons to reduce the consequences of future disasters.  The Department of Housing and Urban Development is using what we’ve learned to come up with better ways to prepare and respond, and to help federal and local governments work together to keep us all safer.

To hear more about resilient communities, listen to our newest Get Ready Report.  And check out our new home safety infographic for more ways to make your home safe!