The festive season is meant to be a time of celebration with your family, close friends and colleagues. However, large, ornate parties and elaborate fairy light displays could potentially expose your home, family and guests to unnecessary hazards. Adopt the following guidance to ensure that you can celebrate the festive season without concern.
Festive Season Tips: Fairy Lights
Fairy lights injure an average of 350 people each year, according to the NHS. These injuries include people falling when putting lights up, children swallowing light bulbs and people receiving electric shocks. Follow these three pieces of advice to ensure that you, your family and your guests are not a part of that statistic:
- Have the strands of fairy lights inspected before you string them up to identify any potential damage in the wire coverings or light bulb sockets that could cause an electrical fire. Additionally, make sure that the lights are hung away from any tissue paper or other flammable materials. Finally, before you leave your home and at the end of the night, turn off all electrical decorations.
- Store all fairy light strands and other electrical decoration cables away from common areas with any amount of foot traffic in order to prevent slips, trips or falls. Additionally, ensure that all cables are plugged into a surge protector and are stored away from any heat sources.
Festive Season Tips: Decorations
Fires are one of the most common festive season hazards—the risk of dying in a house fire increases 50 per cent during the festive season, according to the NHS. To lower your risk, follow these four tips:
- Have the Christmas tree placed at least 1 metre away from any heat source.
- Always use a step ladder when decorating a tree and ensure that any fairy lights placed on the tree conform to the British Standard (BS EN 60598). Candles should never be used as decorations.
- Ensure that the tree is watered daily to prevent it from drying out.
- Before you leave your home and at the end of the night, turn off all tree decorations.
Most of these festive season risks can be avoided as long as you follow the provided guidance. For more information on how you can have a safe and enjoyable festive season, or for information on a comprehensive home insurance policy, contact us.
