Holiday decorating

  • Published
  • By 60th Air Mobility Wing
  • Safety Office
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  We've all seen the movies where decorating for the holidays becomes a slapstick fiasco, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation comes to mind. You may want to deck your home out for the holidays but you don't want to create a holiday hazard.

Before crawling up on the roof to string the lights, you need to know that every year, hospital emergency rooms treat about 12,500 people for injuries, such as falls, cuts and shocks, related to holiday lights, decorations and trees, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. And let's not forget that all of these precautions apply to workplace decorating too. Be sure to check with your local safety office before your decorating begins.

In addition, warns CPSC, candles start about 11,600 fires each year, resulting in 150 deaths, 1,200 injuries and $173 million in property loss. Trees are involved in about 300 fires annually, resulting in 10 deaths, 30 injuries and an average of more than $10 million in property loss and damage.

One of the greatest dangers comes from reaching those high places. Whether it's your roof, the top of the tree or hanging ornaments from your office ceiling, ladders can be a hazard that is usually ignored. If you think that you can't get seriously hurt using a ladder, see the experience of 2012 Airmen-to-Airmen Safety Advisory Council member Capt. Kim Husher: http://www.afsec.af.mil/

From Occupational Health & Safety website, http://ohsonline.com/articles/2010/11/14/wisha-offers-ladder-safety-tips-for-holiday-decorating.aspx, here are 10 tips for ladder safety when hanging decorations:

1. Carefully inspect the ladder for defects, checking for cracks, corrosion, and that bolts and rivets are secure. Tag and remove unsafe ladders from service. (http://www.cbs.state.or.us/external/test/ladder/ladder.html)
2. Make sure the ladder's feet work properly and have slip-resistant pads.
3. Use a fiberglass ladder if there is any chance of contact with electricity.
4. When setting the ladder, look for a safe location with firm, level footing and rigid support for the top of the ladder. Be sure to set it at an angle per the manufacturer's guidance. Your ladder should be one foot away from the structure for every four feet of ladder height.
5. When climbing off a ladder at an upper level, make sure the ladder extends three feet above the landing.
6. When climbing the ladder, use three points of contact - keep one hand and both feet or both hands and one foot in contact with the ladder at all times.
7. Never carry any load that could cause you to lose balance.
8. Never stand on top of a ladder.
9. Don't pull, lean, stretch or make sudden moves on a ladder that could cause it to tip over. A scaffold or other safe working surface may be a better choice for your task.
10. Avoid setting the ladder near exit doors, near the path of pedestrians or vehicular traffic.