If like many families, your house holds medical supplies, it is important to keep them organized so that you can always find what you need. Safety measures are also crucial to ensure the medication doesn’t get damaged or fall into the wrong hands (or paws). To help you keep your medical lotions, pills, and potions in order, check out these six tips for safely storing your supplies at home:

Have one specific area of storage

Depending on how much you need to store, you should dedicate a shelf, cupboard, or even pantry to your medical supplies. This will enable you to focus the medical supply organization, storage, and conditions in a way that is streamlined and easy to manage. It is important that the area you store the supplies in is:

Dry
Devoid of direct sunlight
Not exposed to very high or very low temperatures
Inaccessible to children and pets 

If you’re pretty handy, you could even make your own medicine cabinet.

Utilize clear containers

Clear containers are fantastic for medical supply storage because you can easily see what is in the box. Washed takeaway tubs, glass jars, vitamin jars, and other containers can easily be recycled and used as part of your medicine storage. They are also easy to clean, wipe, and reuse when you refill certain supplies.

Label like you have never labeled before

Labeling the contents of your medicine cabinet ensures that they are easy to use and that everything remains safe. Every packet, pot, and basket should be labeled to ensure the description, expiry date, and instructions for the medicine are available. If there are no instructions or the date is not visible for any reason, throw the item away.

Labeling also helps keep your medical belongings easy to access. For example, you could organize baskets by common symptoms such as cold and flu, bites and itches, or tummy problems.

Dedicate some time to the job

This is not the kind of job to be rushed because so much depends on it. Medicine is expensive, and very important when it comes to your family’s wellness. It can also be hazardous if it is stored incorrectly.

Take an afternoon to get rid of all expired or damaged medicine, choose the right spot, and label all your medicines with a label maker or stickers. You might also want to include cosmetics and personal care products in your afternoon of organization. They are surprisingly the culprits involved in most pediatric poisonings every year, so it is worth ensuring they are stored safely.

Get a lock

No matter how safe you feel your medicine is, it pays to be extra safe when you have children sharing your home with you. Getting locks for the area in which you store your medicine means that little hands won’t be getting hold of things they shouldn’t be. Consider adding a secure portable medicine container

In the case of children finding medicines, only 8% of those cases occur with medicine cabinets. In fact, the largest percentage of ‘findings’ occur with pillboxes, medicines on the ground, and items in handbags. With that in mind, it makes sense to ensure any medicine that comes out of the cabinet goes straight into a lockable, portable box or bag.

Keeping your medical supplies secure is so important when it comes to your health and safety, and the health and safety of your loved ones. Follow the tips above, and you’ll be much more likely to keep your medication safe from being damaged or incorrectly consumed. This will make for a safer family home all-around.