Christmas Safety Tips

It’s that time of year again when lots of us will be thinking about putting up our Christmas decorations. Children will be getting excited and many houses will soon be filled with decorations and lights, often inside and out. However, this can bring with it some extra hazards so read on for our safety tips.

Christmas Lights

Most people don’t buy new Christmas lights each year which means that your lights are likely to spend around 11 months of the year in a box or bag in your loft. During this time they can easily become damaged and therefore unsafe. Here is some advice to help to prevent any problems:

Before you use your lights, check them carefully for obvious signs of damage such as loose wires, signs of burning or missing bulbs.
Follow the manufacturers’ instructions for use.
Check the fuses are the right type (should be on the box or instructions) and only use replacement bulbs of the correct type and rating.
If one of the bulbs has blown, replace it to avoid overheating but make sure you unplug the lights before replacing a bulb.
Don’t allow the lights to come into contact with anything flammable or that will burn easily such as decorations or paper.
Never leave your lights on when you go to bed or if you go out.
Never overload plug sockets and don’t use extension leads unless totally necessary.
Never try to connect more than one set of lights together.
Make sure your lights are out of the packaging BEFORE plugging in. Don’t be tempted to test them out by plugging them in while they are still in the box.
If you are using outdoor lights, make sure they are specially designed for outdoor use – don’t be tempted to try using indoor lights outside.
Make sure any plugs etc. used for outdoor lights are plugged in indoors – electricity and wet weather are not a good mix!

Also, if you are in any doubt that your lights are working properly, don’t use them, replace them instead.

Decorations

With all of the extra flammable materials you will have around such as decorations, cards, paper etc. be very careful of candles. Make sure that nothing is near lit candles and don’t leave them unattended when lit.
Your fireplace is also a major hazard so don’t put any decorations immediately around, above or near your fireplace.
Never put decorations on or near heaters or lights.
Don’t put candles on your Christmas tree.
If you have a live tree, be extra careful especially as it gets old and starts to dry out. Even a spark from a faulty light could start a fire and a live tree will quickly fill a room with fire and deadly gasses.

Finally …

Just one final word of advice – make sure you have enough batteries so that you are not tempted to ‘borrow’ any from smoke alarms. This is especially true if you have children with new toys as they invariably don’t include batteries in the box.