Housecleaners and Safety

[Kinguk]

I'm going to start cleaning houses and doing yardwork for people. I've done cleaning before but not in people's homes. I'm wondering what precautions others take to keep themselves safe when going into a strangers home?

[Quirky]

Perhaps this is very sexist, but take jobs with families -- women with kids? Get info when you're first contacted about the job about the size of the place, how many bedrooms, how many people/pets, whether there are young kids, etc. -- all the stuff you'd need to know anyway to quote them on the job -- then once you have that info you can pick the clientele to go see their houses and give them quotes, and you can check out the neighborhood and family in person. And leave your schedule/destination with someone before you go off to visit someone.