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By Laura Jean Whitcomb
F“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
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Does your neighborhood have a decoration
contest every December? You can still
turn your house into a festival of
lights by following these suggestions: |
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Make sure lights are certified for
outdoor use. |
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Group ornaments on the ground and work
out the arrangements before climbing on
the ladder. |
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Have someone steady the ladder and spot
you. |
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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. |
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Walls are a better decorating surface
than roofs. They are also easier to
reach and less subject to weather. |
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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. |
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Use only insulated staples (not nails or
tacks) to hold them in place. Use hooks
if you plan on hanging lights every
year. |
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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
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Less Is More
Lowe’s Home Safety Council recommends the “less is
more” home decorating concept to decrease injury
risks. Your brother’s five children won’t appreciate
your collection of ceramic angel ornaments as they
are running about the house. Only decorate with
essential objects, and keep your favorites up high.
By minimizing unsafe decorating clutter, you’ll
decrease the chance of choking incidents or injuries
with fallen or broken objects.
And, although candles provide a wonderful holiday
ambiance, flames flirt with danger. The National
Fire Protection Association reports that there are
twice the number of home candle fires in December
than in an average month. Candles are responsible
for 43 percent of home decoration fires each year,
causing more than $171 million in property damage.
“The number one candle safety tip is: Never leave
the candle burning when you leave the room. Douse
the candle when you leave,” says Ken Giles, public
affairs specialist with the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC). “Also, don’t put candles
on or near combustible materials and keep children
and pets away from candles.”
For more safety suggestions, CPSC has additional
holiday safety tips posted on its Web site:
www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/611.html |
