Holiday Safety Tips for a Healthy, Happy Home

The 5 Major Types of Holiday Accidents

We're warned early and often about the dangers of drunk driving and icy roads. But a majority of holiday accidents take place at home — more people went to the hospital from toy-related accidents than car crashes during the 2021 holidays! 

Roughly 145,000 people are injured during every holiday season, according to LegalJobs.

Holiday accidents generally fall into 5 major categories. We've listed them in order of prevalence, from most-often to least-often:

1. Fires and Fire-Related Accidents
2. Electrical Accidents
3. Christmas Tree Accidents
4. Accidents While Decorating
5. Accidents Involving Young Children

Luckily, most of these accidents are fully preventable. They're a result of poor planning or a momentary lapse of judgment. Learn more about the best holiday safety tips to protect your loved ones in a moment — first, let's take a look at some of the stranger ways people sustain holiday injuries.

5 Weird Ways People Hurt Themselves on Holidays

Of course, not all holiday injuries and accidents fall into predictable categories. Many of the ways people hurt themselves during Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah are surprising — and some are downright bizarre.

Here are 5 unusual ways people hurt themselves during the holidays:

1. 13% of all holiday injuries are caused by scissors and knives — many of them occur while people are opening presents.
2. 18% of people who celebrate Christmas say they get drunk while setting up their Christmas tree.
3. Dozens of Americans are hospitalized each year for ingesting poisonous holiday plants. Don't eat mistletoe, holly berries, or Jerusalem cherries!
4. 3% of adults injured on Christmas and Hanukkah were hurt playing with a child's new toy.
5. Don't blame it on the eggnog! 88% of holiday injuries happen to people who aren't intoxicated.

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Holiday Fire Safety Tips You Need to Know

Fires are the #1 holiday safety hazard in American homes. The American Red Cross says nearly 47,000 home fires happen during the winter holidays every year, costing $554 million in property damage.

Check Every Smoke Alarm in Your Home

Functional smoke detectors are the easiest way to prevent a home fire from becoming a disaster. The American Red Cross reports that working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a fire by 50%.

Check every smoke detector, smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector in your home before the holiday season. Have a stash of backup batteries on hand and replace any that are needed.

Fireplace Accidents

A fireplace screen or fireguard doesn’t fully eliminate fire hazard risks in your home. Small flames and embers can jump out from the fireplace and cause burns to guests, pets and flammable items.

Here are 4 simple ways to keep your fireplace as a light and heat source — not a fire safety risk:

1. Keep all holiday decorations, trees, carpets and rugs at least 3-5 feet away from the edge of your fireplace. 
2. Do not let house guests or small children sit near the edge of the fireplace.
3. Do not stack gifts around the fireplace.
4. Make sure stockings do not hang within 3 feet of the fireplace opening.

Candle Fires

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) warns that ⅓ of all holiday fires are started by candles. It's hard to imagine one lit candle causing major damage, but candles start more holiday home fires than cooking and space heaters combined.

Follow these 4 simple guidelines to use candles safely this holiday season:

1. Never use lit candles to embellish a Christmas tree or any other decoration.
2. Don't place candles on tables or counters that are reachable by small children.
3. Don't leave a lit candle in any room you cannot actively see at all times.
4. Blow out every candle in your home before you go to sleep.

Candle Safety Tip: Use a flameless candle warmer for a safe experience.

Cooking Fires

According to healthcare firm Relias, U.S. fire departments respond to nearly 155,000 home cooking fires per year. 1,600 of those happen on Thanksgiving alone.

Use these 6 tips to practice cooking fire prevention in your home:

1. Don't leave oven mitts, gloves, towels, food packaging, plastic containers or pizza boxes on your stove top.
2. Always keep a large pot lid nearby to smother grease fires or cover food that's caught fire.
3. Be cautious when cooking with oil. Add food in small amounts to avoid splatters that can burn you.
4. Do not throw water on an oil fire. Smother the fire and step away quickly.
5. Set a timer. Even if your baking isn't time-sensitive, it will remind you that there's food in the oven.
6. Keep a Class F fire extinguisher in your kitchen. Class F fire extinguishers are specifically designed to combat fires caused by fats and oils.

HOMR Tip: Be especially careful with turkey fryers. They've caused over $9 million in property damage since 2000, and the National Safety Council (NSC) discourages the use of turkey fryers in your home.

Space Heaters

Most space heater fires occur when homeowners are either sleeping or out of the house. Never leave a space heater unattended, and unplug it completely before you leave the house or go to bed for the night.

The U.S. Fire Administration recommends that you place a space heater on a solid, flat surface. Keep them at least 3 feet away from flammable items and substances.

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Holiday Electrical Safety Tips — Be Careful With Those Lights!

How Much Can You Plug Into One Outlet?

As a general safety rule, never plug more than 1,500 watts into one electrical outlet or circuit. If you don’t think that's a lot, consider that an average air conditioner exceeds 1,000 watts on its own. 

Any large winter appliance (like a space heater) should be plugged into its own dedicated outlet. 

If you use surge protectors, understand their limitations. Surge protectors help avoid blown fuses and tripped circuits — but they don't increase the load capacity of your outlets. 

Holiday Lights (Indoor Lights)

Here are 4 electrical safety tips for decorating with indoor lights:

1. Never connect more than 3 strands of incandescent holiday lights. The Electrical Safety Foundation (ESFI) warns that directly connecting 3+ strands of indoor lights increases the risk of a blown fuse and creates a fire hazard.
2. Check for proper certification labels on all electrical decorations and indoor lights. You should see a tag that says UL (Underwriters Laboratory), ETL (Intertek), or CSA (Canadian Standards Association). Only purchase lights that have a recognizable certification label. 
3. Hang indoor light strands out of reach of pets and young children. 
4. Always turn off all indoor holiday light strands before going to bed or leaving the house for long periods of time. Consider setting all indoor lights to a timer that switches off overnight, or using a smart outlet.

Outdoor Holiday Lights (Why LED is The Right Choice)

Should you choose LED or incandescent outdoor holiday lights? If you're able to spend a bit more upfront, LED light strings are much safer for outdoor use over the long haul. They'll also save you a ton of money on energy bills.

LED Christmas lights are lower wattage than incandescent bulbs, so they'll put less stress on your circuit. 5,000 LED C9 size bulbs use approximately 480 watts — 5,000 incandescent C9 bulbs are 35,000 watts (73x more energy used). 

It's also far more likely your LED holiday lights are rated for outdoor use. Standard incandescent bulbs can't be exposed to rain, ice or snow. If you use incandescent light strands outside, make sure they're rated for outdoor use.

No matter what type of bulbs you choose, all outdoor lights should be plugged into GFCI outlets and receptacles — no exceptions! An outlet with a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) has test and reset buttons that are easily noticeable. 

Connect all outdoor light displays to a timer that turns them off overnight. You'll save hundreds of hours' worth of energy on your winter utility bills, and avoid any electrical fires or blown fuses overnight.

Extension Cords

Take these 5 precautions to ensure safe extension cord use during the holidays:

1. Check the extension cord label. Every extension cord is rated to handle a certain wattage. That information should be clearly displayed on a tag or label.
2. Don’t pinch extension cords. It's tempting to hide those extension cords behind furniture, under rugs and below your cabinets. Be careful while doing this — a pinched cord can fray, exposing internal wires and creating an electrical shock or fire hazard. 
3. Never guide an extension cord through a door or window, or fasten it down with nails or staples. 
4. Use extension cords with a third prong. This is the grounding pin, which prevents users from electric shock.
5. Avoid your driveway. If you're using extension cords outdoors, don't run them across your driveway.

Get more detailed information about home holiday electrical safety with our helpful guide (coming soon!)

Christmas Tree Safety (We Couldn't Believe The Stats)

The NFPA reports that Christmas tree fires cause $12 million in direct property damage every year. Both artificial and real trees are susceptible to catching fire, and each type requires specific care to avoid a safety hazard.

There are a few Christmas tree safety precautions you can take regardless of the type of tree you own. Practice these 4 steps for proper tree maintenance:

1. Check all light strands and electrical decorations for frayed wires or damaged bulbs. Throw away any light strand with stripped or exposed wires immediately.
2. Plug electric lights into a properly rated electrical outlet. If possible, use a GFCI outlet that has test and reset buttons.
3. Never place real burning candles on or near a tree.
4. Keep your tree 3+ feet away from your fireplace, radiator or any other heat source.

Artificial Tree Safety

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) urges homeowners to check for a “Fire Resistant” label when buying an artificial tree. If you don't see one, the tree is susceptible to catching fire near fireplaces, open flames and space heaters.

If your artificial tree has built-in lights, plug those lights directly into a GFCI outlet. 

Real Tree Safety

Real Christmas trees contain a highly flammable resin, and fir and pine needles are also susceptible to catching fire. This combination makes real trees a fire hazard in your home.

Relias advises you to always keep your tree well-watered, and remove it from your home as soon as it dries out. A dried-out tree is a magnet for fire damage — its internal resin becomes more flammable as it dries.

Wrap your tree with a blanket or tree bag for disposal. This eliminates any sap or needles from littering your floor. If you aren't using the tree for firewood, check to see if your local recycling center will accept Christmas trees.

Holiday Decorations and Safety — Be Careful on That Ladder!

Most decorating-related accidents involve falls and cuts. These occur when homeowners work too hastily on hanging or trimming decorations. Nobody wants to take a trip to the emergency room on Christmas Eve or the night before Thanksgiving — give yourself ample time to set up your decorations with care.

Ladders and Fall Hazards

State Farm reports that 160 people fall daily during the holiday season while hanging decorations.

They offer 4 simple tips to avoid falling off ladders while decorating:

1. Always use the right ladder for the job — check for proper height, and always try to use a double-sided ladder.
2. Check the ladder for damage, warps or cracks before you climb.
3. Keep 3 points of contact on the ladder at all times — two hands and one foot, or one hand and two feet.
4. For extension ladders, use the “1-to-4” rule. For every 4 feet the ladder rises, move the base 1 more foot away from the structure.

Never substitute a piece of furniture or unsteady platform for an actual ladder. 

Sharp Ornaments and Decorations

13% of all holiday injuries involve cuts and puncture wounds. Many of these occur when handling sharp ornaments and decorations. Here are 4 simple ways to avoid hurting yourself:

1. Wear thick gloves (gardening gloves are great) when handling sharp decorations or ornaments.
2. Be careful when cutting metal decorations. Avoid creating jagged edges that could cut you in the future.
3. Handle glass ornaments with care. Wrap them with bubble wrap or newspaper for storage, and inspect each one carefully as you remove them. They may have cracked or chipped while settling in storage containers.
4. Avoid using knives or razors to cut decorations if possible.

4 Extra Holiday Tips to Keep Your Kids Safe

Families with small children know the holidays are all about making memories with your kids. Keep those memories positive by creating a safe, healthy environment for younger family members.

Here are 4 general rules to protect your kids during the holiday season:

1. Check toys for safety issues. The CPSC reports that over 152,000 kids under 15 years old injured themselves playing with toys in 2021. Many weren't overtly dangerous toys — the main cause of injury was choking and suffocation on small parts.
2. Cover your electrical outlets. Cap all your electrical outlets — it's a cheap, simple way to keep kids from playing with open sockets. 
3. Put those extra lights away. Store replacement bulbs and string lights out of the reach of children.
4. Replace your breakable ornaments. 27% of child injuries during the holidays involve cuts. Your glass ornaments are beautiful, but they're hazardous to small children.

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