“Ho-ho-ho — help!” is not something you want to hear from your loved ones this holiday season. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), hospital emergency rooms treated about 8,700 people in 2001 for injuries, such as falls, cuts and shocks related to holiday lights, decorations and Christmas trees.

“Roofs, ladders, ice and snow, cold... obviously a potentially hazardous situation,” says Ken Giles, Public Affairs Specialist with the CPSC.

Before you drag those Rubbermaid totes of decorations out of storage, read these tips to help make your home festive and safe.

Inspect and Test

If those twinkling lights have been on your tree since you were a child, they might need to be replaced. “Lights should meet the most recent Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) standards,” says Giles. “These standards provide for fuses, proper gauge wire, polarized plugs and other safety features.”

Visually inspect each set of light strings. Look for worn or defective wires, unraveled or loose connections, or cracked sockets. Throw out damaged sets.

Unplug the string before replacing broken or missing bulbs. Wear gloves and use long-nose pliers to remove broken bulbs. If the string blows a fuse, replace the entire string.

For energy savings, replace the strands that use larger C-7 or C-9 bulbs (similar to those used in nightlights). Mini-lights, using 1.5 to 2.5 miniature bulbs, are cool burning, inexpensive to use and inexpensive to buy. But if you are using mini-lights, make sure all strands are mini-lights. Stringing together strands of different wattages will result in power surges that wear out bulbs much quicker.

Multiple Strands

A Lowe’s Home Safety Council survey revealed that 57 percent of people who decorate with lights string more than three strands together. Multiple strands look pretty on a tree or around the front door, but can quickly overheat wires and extension cords — and even cause a fire.

The Lowe’s Home Safety Council recommends using no more than three standard size sets
of lights per extension cord. “Don’t overload. Check the wattage rating for the extension cord and for what will be plugged into the cord,” says CPSC’s Giles.

Another tip: Never plug more than two extension cords together. Buy an extension cord that is the length you need.

Don’t Overload Outlets

Even pretty little lights should use surge protectors plugged into a working 120-volt electrical outlet protected by a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). GFCIs work by monitoring the electricity flow in a circuit. If the GFCI detects a slight difference in the amount of current flowing in and returning, it will immediately shut off the current flow in the circuit, protecting people from serious electric shocks and electrocution.

“Outdoor lights must be plugged into GFCI-protected outlets,” says Giles.

To lower your electric bill and prevent fire, turn out lights before you go to sleep. You could also use an automatic timer, but make sure you are using the appropriate one: an indoor timer for the living room and an outdoor timer for the deck and eaves.

Decorating the Outside

Does your neighborhood have a decoration contest every December? You can still turn your house into a festival of lights by following these suggestions:

• Make sure lights are certified for outdoor use.
  
• Group ornaments on the ground and work out the arrangements before climbing on the ladder.
  
• Have someone steady the ladder and spot you.
  
• Wear knee and elbow pads and a helmet, if possible. Do not wear a tool belt or hang tools or lights around your neck; it will be hazardous if you fall.
  
• Walls are a better decorating surface than roofs. They are also easier to reach and less subject to weather.
  
• If you have to decorate the roof, limit it to the roof’s perimeter: eaves and gable ends. Wooden trim boards offer plenty of surface area and you won’t have to poke nail or staple holes in your roof.
  
• Use only insulated staples (not nails or tacks) to hold them in place. Use hooks if you plan on hanging lights every year.
  
• Use staples or other fasteners that won’t penetrate wood boards. Avoid placing fasteners near joints, which could cause splitting and later lead to rotting. Use steel clips for brick surfaces, and skip decorating vinyl surfaces