Enjoy a Safe Holiday Season
Holiday safety is an issue that burns brightest from late November to mid-January, when families gather, parties are scheduled and travel spikes. While the holidays might look a little different this year due to the pandemic, smaller outdoor or indoor in-person gatherings are still possible if everyone agrees to maintain a safe distance, refrain from sharing objects and only gather with people from the same local area or community. Here are some basic guidelines.
Following is additional advice on ensuring your family remains safe and injury-free throughout the season.
Holiday Help: Supporting Mental Health This Season
The holiday season is often accompanied by increased stress. Though many people look forward to festivities with friends and family, for others, this time can bring on or worsen stress, anxiety and depression, and increase the risk for substance use, relapse and overdose. A variety of factors can bring on holiday anxiety, and this year, with the impacts of the pandemic, there are new, complex situations, challenges and circumstances that employees and their families must consider. Learn more about these issues and actions you can take to protect yourself, loved ones, friends and colleagues.
While many will choose to stay home this year, if you do travel, be sure your vehicle is in good running condition, you have plenty of rest and are prepared for any emergency. Traveling by car during the holidays has the highest fatality rate of any major form of transportation based on fatalities per passenger mile. In 2020, it is estimated 163 people died on New Year's Day, 485 on Thanksgiving Day, and for Christmas Day 2019, it is estimated 115 lost their lives, according to Injury Facts. Alcohol impairment is involved in about a third of the fatalities.
Stay safe on the roads over the holidays and every day:
Decorating is one of the best ways to get in a holiday mood, but emergency rooms see thousands of injuries involving holiday decorating every season.
When decorating follow these tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:
Candles and Fireplaces
Use of candles and fireplaces, combined with an increase in the amount of combustible, seasonal decorations in many homes during the holidays, means more risk for fire. The National Fire Protection Association reports that one-third of home decoration fires are started by candles and that two of every five decoration fires happen because the decorations are placed too close to a heat source.
Turkey Fryers
Be alert to the dangers if you're thinking of celebrating the holidays by frying a turkey. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports there have been 154 turkey-fryer related fires, burns or other injuries since 2004, with $5.2 million in property damage losses have resulted from these incidents.
NSC discourages the use of turkey fryers at home and urges those who prefer fried turkey to seek out professional establishments or consider using an oil-less turkey fryer. If you must fry your own turkey, follow all U.S. Fire Administration turkey fryer guidelines.
Keep your holidays happy by handling food safely. The foodsafety.gov website from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides some valuable holiday food safety tips:
Watch this holiday food safety video for more information.
Gifts and toys should inspire joy, not cause injuries. More than a quarter of a million children were seriously injured in toy-related incidents in 2017. Avoid safety hazards while gifting with these tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:
To find out about holiday toy safety and recalls, check the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website.