In honor of National Safety Month, senior home care experts at Chapel Hill’s Home Instead Senior Care are offering free home safety checks throughout the month of June.

Stephen Lair of Home Instead Senior Care says it’s extremely important to make sure the home is safe, especially if you or your family member is a senior citizen: 33 percent of seniors’ hospital visits are caused by falls and other accidents in the home, he says, and nearly half of those could have been prevented with some basic safety precautions – precautions as simple as removing loose rugs or making sure railings are secure.

Lair joined Aaron Keck on the WCHL Afternoon News to discuss the issue.

For more information on in-home safety, visit MakingHomeSaferForSeniors.com – and for more information on Home Instead Senior Care or to schedule a safety check, visit HomeInstead.com.