It’s that time of year again! The holidays are coming around and everyone is dragging out their storage boxes full of decorations, or picking up fun new items at the store. Given all of the festive excitement in the air, safety is often an afterthought for the home decorator.
However there is reason to be wary! In 2012 – when the numbers were last analyzed – the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) found that over 15,000 holiday decorating injuries occurred in November and December. This number was trending up since 2009 too.
We’ve put together a useful list of holiday safety tips to help you remain cognizant of the most pressing safety issues. Whether you are up on your roof or putting decorations together in your living room, our list of decorating tips are sure to help you cut down on risks and make you safer.
Up On The Roof
Any time you are working up high, you are in danger of all sorts of injuries. Slippery surfaces, unbalanced ladders, and faulty products can lead to falls, electrical shock, fire, and more. Our holiday safety tips include suggestions for staying safe on the roof, so you can stay safe when you are the most vulnerable to disaster.
- Make sure you carefully read the directions and warning labels on your ladder so you know how to use it safely and properly. When you set the ladder up, verify that it is well-placed and away from slippery surfaces like water and ice.
- If you go up on a ladder and someone else is available, have them hold and support the ladder while you go up. It is also recommended to have someone around in case anything happens.
- Take care when you are supporting yourself on the side of your house or on your roof. Make sure you are on solid ground, or holding onto something that isn’t loose or rotten. It is a good idea to conduct regular maintenance checks to make sure your roof is in good shape. Good roofing practices also ensure that your home is free of hazards year-round. Our holiday safety tips won’t do you much good if your house is falling apart!
- When putting up lights, be careful not to pierce wire insulation with nails or staples. Plug electrical cords into outlets with a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) and don’t overload outlets with too many lights.
- Inspect your wires, extension cords, and lights for visible signs of damage like bare wires, loose connections, and broken sockets.
- When you purchase lights, make sure they are certified by a trusted lab like UL. Your lights should also be labeled for outdoor use, and rated to work with your given power setup.
Decorating Your House
Our holiday safety tips wouldn’t be complete without a few recommendations on safety in the home. Electrical shock, fire, and choking are just some of the nasty consequences awaiting those who aren’t careful with their decorating. This short list of decorating tips is sure to keep your household out of trouble.
- For those setting up Christmas trees, be sure to choose a healthy tree and keep it hydrated. If you decide to go with a fake tree, ensure that it is fire resistant. Dry trees, tree set up with faulty electronics, and trees that are placed close to fires may catch and pose a serious problem.
- When you decorate a tree, try to go with safe ornaments that aren’t breakable, shatterable, or have sharp edges.
- Be sure to unplug all indoor lights when you aren’t using them, and when you go to sleep. This cuts down on the risk of shorts and fires.
- Avoid fake candy and food decorations, which may prove tempting to small children.
- Among our holiday safety tips, proper candle handling is one of the most important. Unsupervised or unsafe candles can easily start a fire. When using candles, always be within sight of them, and put them out when not in use. It is also a good idea to stick to stable, level, and fire-resistant surfaces.
Stay Safe
Whether you are working in your home or outdoors on your house, these decorating tips are a sure way to stay safe. Stick to quality products and follow all of the guidelines you can find, and you’ll find that your chances of catastrophe are much lower.
We hope our holiday safety tips have proved useful! If you need to get work done on your roof, don’t hesitate to call Custom Home Remodeling & Roofing at 866-336-5882. We can also be contacted online. We serve the whole Southern California region, and operate in cities like Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, and many more. Contact us today!