The Season for Holiday Related Injuries – 20 Tips on How to Avoid Injury
The holiday season has arrived, and as consumers decorate their homes, it is important that they take proper safety precautions to avoid fires and injuries. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), approximately 12,000 consumers must be treated each year in the United States due to holiday related decorating accidents. Dried out Christmas trees result in hundreds of fires and an average of 17 deaths and $13 million in property damage annually. Fires due to candles are associated with 150 deaths each year and $385 million in property damage. Many of hazards are preventable — these are some safety tips that will help consumers avoid the dangers of holiday decorating.
- Make sure that when purchasing a live tree, that the tree is fresh, green, has needles that are difficult to pull away from the branches, and the needles do not break when bent. Also, the bottom of a fresh tree should be sticky due to the resin. Finally, the tree should not lose many needles if tapped against the ground.
- Make sure to place the tree far from any heat sources in your home, such as fireplaces, vents, and radiators.
- Make sure to monitor the water levels and keep the tree stand filled with water.
- Do not block doorways with the tree.
- If purchasing an artificial tree, make sure that it has a label that certifies that it is “Fire Resistant.”
- Keep trimmings with small parts out of reach of children who may be able to swallow small pieces.
- Take care to use lights that have been tested for safety by a nationally recognized testing laboratory such as UL or ETL.
- Make sure each set of lights does not have any broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections. If you find any damage, throw away the set.
- Always replace burned-out bulbs promptly with the same wattage bulbs.
- DO NOT use electric lights on a metallic tree. The tree can become charged with electricity from faulty lights, and a person touching a branch could be electrocuted.
- Make sure that any extension cords used, are rated for the intended use.
- Check labels on lights if using outdoors, to assure that they have been certified for outdoor use.
- Plug outdoor lights into a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) protected receptacle or a portable GFCI.
- Stay away from power or feeder lines leading from utility poles into older homes.
- Fasten outdoor lights securely to trees, house walls, or other firm supports to protect the lights from wind damage. Use only insulated staples (not nails or tacks) to hold strings in place. Or, run strings of lights through hooks (available at hardware stores).
- Make sure that all burning candles are within sight.
- Extinguish all candles before going to bed, leaving the room, or leaving the house.
- Keep candles on a stable heat-resistant surface where children and pets cannot reach them or knock them over.
- Keep candles away from items that can catch fire and burn easily.
- Place a screen around your fireplace to prevent sparks from igniting nearby flammable materials.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of an accident, contact an injury lawyer at Swartz & Swartz, P.C. Call our Boston, Massachusetts office at (617) 742-1900, or toll-free at 1-800-545-3732.
By James A. Swartz of Swartz & Swartz P.C. – Permalink
Related posts:
Really good site. Thank you for writing.
Really good stuff. Thank you for posting.
Really cool blog. Thank you for posting.
I thought it was going to be some boring old site, but I’m glad I visited. I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful.
While I was surfing on the Internet, suddenly I realized that there is new solution to my problem. It was you who explained how it works. Awesome job!
Good day! I just wish to give a huge thumbs up for the good info you’ve got here on this post. I will probably be coming back to your weblog soon.
naturally like your website but you need to check the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling issues and I to find it very troublesome to inform the truth however I¡¦ll surely come back again.
Many thanks you very a great deal for this very good and really handy articles. Any human being could possibly get terrific info from this publish.fantastic execute go on to keep it up. I’m going to bookmark this website for arrived yet again in future.
Thanks you pretty much for this good and very valuable material. Anyone could quite possibly get exceptional information from this informative article.wonderful do the work retain it up. I’m heading to bookmark this website site for came again all over again in long run.
Some truly fantastic posts on this site, regards for contribution.
I wish to express thanks to the writer just for rescuing me from this type of crisis. As a result of looking through the internet and meeting strategies that were not helpful, I figured my life was done. Being alive without the solutions to the problems you have fixed by way of the review is a serious case, as well as those which might have negatively damaged my entire career if I had not discovered your website. The ability and kindness in touching all the things was crucial. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t discovered such a subject like this. It’s possible to at this point look forward to my future. Thanks so much for your reliable and sensible guide. I won’t hesitate to endorse your web page to any individual who should receive support about this issue.
Thanks for putting this material up.This is just what I’ve been looking for.
This web site can be a walk-by way of for all the info you needed about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and also you’ll positively discover it.
Hi there! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my good old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this post to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
Really worthwhile write-up. Spend interest
whoah this weblog is excellent i really like studying your articles. Stay up the great paintings! You already know, many persons are looking round for this information, you could aid them greatly.
Hello, all is going sound here and ofcourse every one is sharing data, that’s truly fine, keep up writing.
Very well written post. It will be helpful to anybody who usess it, as well as myself. Keep up the good work – looking forward to more posts.
I like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon.
It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this fantastic blog! I guess for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to new updates and will talk about this site with my Facebook group. Chat soon!