Keep your holidays bright and free from electrical hazards

With the holidays just around the corner, now is the perfect time to start thinking about decorating your home for the occasion. Whether you wrap your house with hundreds of lights and put a life-size St. Nick and reindeer on your roof, or just grace your tree with a few simple strings of twinkling lights, holiday decorations are a great way to celebrate the joys of the season with friends and family.

But along with good cheer, holiday decorations can bring danger. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), hospital emergency rooms treat around 12,500 people annually for cuts, falls, and shocks related to holiday lights, decorations, and Christmas trees. Most of these injuries could be avoided by taking proper precautions. Here are some helpful tips from the Leviton Institute to help keep your holiday safe:

• Carefully inspect all holiday lights and decorations before you install them. Any wires that are frayed, excessively kinked, show visible gaps in insulation or bare spots, or have cracked or broken sockets should be replaced immediately. Make sure all lights and extension cords are UL rated for safety.

• Don’t link more than three strands of lights together unless the instructions specifically say that it’s safe to do so. Connect light strands together first, then plug them into the extension cord and plug the extension into the outlet.

• Don’t overload outlets or extensions with too many lights or decorations. It could create a shock hazard, or even start a fire. Problem signs indicating an overload include flickering lights, blown fuses or tripped circuit breakers, or outlets or switches that feel warm to the touch. If this occurs, be sure to take corrective action immediately.

• Never place electric lights on a metallic Christmas tree. And when fastening lights to walls, don’t use regular metal staples or nails; they could easily cut through the insulation and short out the wires. Use only insulated staples or hooks specially made for the purpose.

• Make sure when installing lights outside that they are rated for outdoor use and plugged into a receptacle equipped with a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI), preferably one with a weatherproof cover. If no GFCI receptacles are available, you should use a GFCI equipped extension cord set, which is inexpensive (typically around $25 or less), and widely available. Just be sure to plug the GFCI equipped extension cord into the receptacle first, and then plug in the lights and decorations into the extension cord.

• Always unplug lights when away from home or when sleeping.

• Be aware that young children are attracted to lights and shiny decorations. To prevent them from pulling on them or worse, putting them in their mouths, make sure all lights and ornaments are out of reach of children.

• Avoid using lit candles whenever possible, and never use them on a Christmas tree.
Keep your tree well-watered; a wet tree is much less likely be ignited by a stray spark flame than a dry one.

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