Is your bathroom a safe place or a death trap?

Former Kampala Mayor, Nasser Ntege Sebaggala's journey to death started in his bathroom.

Sseya, who died on September 26, slipped in his bathroom before he was rushed to IHK. It was then discovered that he had got an intestinal obstruction.

Musician Catherine Kusasira in April this year also had a near-death experience from what should ideally be a safe place; the bathroom.

In her own remarks while lying on her hospital bed then, Kusasira said, “I had gone to bathe but I slipped and fell. I spent almost 5 minutes on the floor before I could call for help. They brought me to hospital and I am feeling better now,”

These are however not isolated cases and unlike Kusasira who made it through this horrible experience alive, many Ugandans continue to lose life from one of the smallest room in the house.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, statistics in the United States of America are even higher as every year, about 235,000 people over the age 15 visit emergency rooms because of injuries suffered in the bathroom, and almost 14 percent are hospitalised.

But how did we get here?

In an interview with Peninah Nambazira, a psychotherapist bathroom accidents are either due to architectural constraints but could also be as a result of several health problems.

Nambazira said: "Some people suffer suffer from a stroke while in the bathrooms and that is why it is advisable to first wet the feet, legs and then the whole body when one is bathing."

According to Nambazira, when a person first pours water on the head before other parts of the body, especially for adults, the veins constriction may abruptly change and this could lead to a stroke, hence falling down.

Ssempuma Denis, a director at Zimba Distributors Limited said that when putting up a bathroom, one must ensure that they use strictly bathroom tiles on the floor to reduce on the chances of falling.

Ssempuma advises people to adopt bathroom carpets on top of the tiles.

Bob Lwanga of STK Modern Engineers in Mengo said that bathroom accidents can be caused by a number of factors that one should avoid.

"Leaks from damaged water pipes in the bathroom may cause water to flow leaving the tiles slippery, poor bathroom cleaning habits may also leave the tiles with foam leaving them slippery, broken tiles too. A bathroom should ideally be safe and one should look out for those issues," Lwanga said.

Lwanga pointed out that some of the best tiles to use in the bathroom include porcelain tiles, ceramic tiles, terracotta tiles, glass tiles, vinyl tiles, pebble tiles, slate, marble, mosaic and limestone tiles.