Safety Issues All Around for Thanksgiving Week
Winter driving hazards, electrical safety issues, slips, falls, and more for the holiday season.
Many safety organizations offer seasonal safety guidance that starts with the week of Thanksgiving. The Electrical Safety Foundation International offers a free Make Safety a Tradition Holiday Toolkit this year that is focused, of course, on electrical safety – a holiday season biggie. ESFI's "Naughty or Nice Holiday Safety List" is definitely worth a visit. (FYI, the Nice portion includes keeping a fresh Christmas tree watered, remembering to unplug electrical decorations before replacing lights or fuses, and plugging electric lights and decorations into ground-fault circuit interrupters.)
The foundation's theme this year, "Deck the Halls Safely for All," is focused on electrical safety issues associated with holiday decorations, some of which present fall hazards.
"According to the National Fire Protection Association, holiday lights are involved in an estimated average of 160 reported home fires per year, and Christmas trees account for an additional 230 fires each year. Together these fires result in an average of 13 civilian deaths, 34 injuries, and $26.3 million in direct property damage per year," according to ESFI.
NETS and NHTSA remind us that wearing seat belts while traveling this week is essential. The Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busiest travel of the year, and that increases risk, according to their campaign. Wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers by 45 percent, and the risk of moderate to serious injury is reduced by 50 percent, according to NETS.
For more information about traveling safely during Thanksgiving, visit www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov.