The Best Holiday Gift – Safe at Work and at Home

The Holiday Season is Upon Us

Preparations for the holiday season are well underway as we look forward to spending time with our family and friends participating in all of our traditional activities.   Unfortunately, the holiday season sees an increase in accidents of many types, both at home and at work.   

Holiday Safety at Home

Accidents increase over the holidays:

• With increased driving demands at night, in traffic or in bad weather 
• With increased consumption of alcohol
• Through fatigue and stress from attending and preparing for events

• Through increased rates of illness from contagious diseases and food borne bacteria
• When pulling out and moving heavy and awkward holiday items
• When putting up decorations, often on ladders or in awkward positions
• When installing temporary electrical connections for lights and kitchen items 
• Through increased cooking activities with heating sources in-use and not fully attended
• With the use of candles, fireplaces and outdoor fires

Every one of these activities can lead to serious accidents over the holiday season.  Let’s just consider fires as one example of the hazards of the holiday season.  The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) reports that Christmas day and Eve are two of the leading dates for home structure fires caused by cooking, that structure electrical or lighting equipment was involved in more than two of every five Christmas tree fires and that three of every five home decoration fires was started by candles. 

Holiday Safety at Work

Accidents increase over the holidays for many of the same reasons as they do at home, and also because of:

• Increased workloads covering for those away on holidays or sick
• Hiring or assigning workers to temporary positions that they are unfamiliar with
• Responding to call outs at minimally staffed locations
• Increased driving in the dark or in bad weather
• Driving to and from work when fatigued
• Weather related slips and trips 
• Fatigue, stress and violence related to the demands of the holidays
• Company parties, alcohol consumption and driving

Work and home safety are very closely linked over the holiday season, as activities spill over and affect each other.

The Gift of a Safe Holiday Season

At home and at work, we have to be mindful of the extra demands that are being placed on all of us over the holidays.  At home, we should approach each task just as we would at work, by evaluating the hazards before we begin an activity.  Rushing and poor preparation leads to driving accidents, falls from ladders, slips and trips and musculoskeletal injuries.  Be mindful of food preparation, keep surfaces clean and practice good hygiene to avoid spreading illnesses.  At work, we need to watch out for each other and concentrate on the hazard control elements of our safety system.  

The key to the gift of a safe holiday season this year might just be doing and travelling a little less, if it means keeping all workers, family and friends safe.

Happy holidays from your team at InUnison Technologies