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The holiday season also means “the season to be jolly” to many. It is that time of the year when people are getting busy to decorate their homes and even prepare some gifts to their friends and loved ones. It is indeed a season that brings joy and spreads love to one another. But this season is somewhat prone to accidents because of the cold weather where people sometimes mishandle heaters and electric blankets and even start accidents on warm fireplaces. Irwin Consulting Services, a consulting company that works hard to ensure public safety, wanted everyone to be safe during this happy season so they provided some basic thoughts to remember in keeping the whole family safe below.

Some of the common accidents during this season include kitchen fires, electrical fires, and fires that begin from flammable materials that were placed near to the house’s heat sources. No one wanted to experience unfortunate events or accidents even while cooking so you are encouraged by Irwin Consulting Services to focus each time you’re cooking and as much as possible, don’t let anyone stole most of your attention while preparing food for your family. It would also be better to have everything organized before you cook and avoid cooking everything all at once; multitasking on cooking was not always an effective approach. Outdoor grills were made to cook outside your home so don’t bring it inside to cook your favorite barbecues. No matter how cold it is outside, never place it inside.

Other households love to keep live Christmas trees. But this holiday season, such trees could become the biggest fire hazard in a house. You need to water it regularly and make sure that it can absorb water up through its trunk. If you have decorative lights on your tree, check if it is labeled for indoor use and if it is approved for safe use by a UL listing. Your live Christmas tree should also be away from fireplaces and space heaters to avoid fire accidents. Don’t put it on the path of an exit door as well. Live candles should not be on live trees too. Turn off all the lights and even unplug them each time your family goes to bed or going out the house.

Put away decorative candles on the reach of your little children. In the case of decorative lights, proper electrical wiring must be ensured and hang them using plastic clips instead of nails to avoid incidents of it penetrating through the wiring that could lead to shorts. We don’t want tragedies to happen in our homes, so see to it that there were no overloads and faulty wirings. Check every string of wire and see to it that they’re safe to use to prevent any dangerous situations. The extension cords must be used with proper caution and avoid plugging one extension cord to another because it could result in voltage drop and overheat. Indoor and outdoor light connections are much safer with the use of power strips. Some important pointers that Irwin Consulting Services would like you to keep in mind include making sure of a properly working smoke alarms and of an easily accessible fire extinguishers as well as having weather alert radios.

The chimney flue must be cleaned especially during this cold season and put a grate or screen in front of the fireplace, and never put stockings and other holiday decorations near a lit fireplace. Gifts should be placed in a safe spot as well as your Christmas tree, not on a close distance with the fireplace.

Develop a good and proper escape plan especially if you have a huge house, and if you have visitors, also discuss it with them. Getting to your doors must not be blocked by some furniture or huge decorations, but instead, make it a clear path in order to go outside easily in case of an emergency. The gas lines must be thoroughly checked to guarantee a safe use of heat in your home. Invest in one or two fire extinguishers and make sure that they are charged. As said earlier, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors should be present in your home. Don’t put space heaters near to flammable objects and use it with proper caution as well; space heaters with tip-over switches are often suggested by many experts. Outdoor heaters should remain outside and should never be used for indoor heating.

Have a safe and happy holiday season with your friends and loved ones.