As we approach Christmas and New Year, it would be well to remember that your home or holiday home is about to become the focal point during the holiday season. Whether it is the huge spread you serve for your family on Christmas day, or the grandchildren that will be running around your home to celebrate the new year, your house will get a good “workout” next month.
Now is the time to get your house ready for the holidays and to make sure that your home is safe, thus helping your guests to relax.
Safe decorations and lights
For most of us, putting up lots of lights and decorations is the “reason for the season”. However, many people do not take safety into account when decorating. For example, they use numerous extension cords to plug in their favourite lighted decorations, which is a huge safety hazard. It would be a much safer option to use a six or seven outlet surge-suppressor power strip, plugged into a nearby outlet.
If you are going to have guests staying at your house, make sure that you have lots of lights in all the bathrooms, guest bedrooms, hallways and at the top and bottom of the stairs. It is also a good idea to have night lights throughout the house on and especially in the living rooms to avoid bumping into furniture that have been moved around to accommodate the Christmas tree or other holiday decorations.
Candles are one of the most dangerous holiday decorations − especially when you have small children around. Fortunately, there are some great battery-operated candles that look real and eliminate the safety hazard. Many hardware and home centres have a variety of these battery-operated candles, including flickering and scented ones. Put children’s safety first.
Speaking of children, it is a good idea to walk around your home − after all the decorations have been put up − to child-proof it. Make sure you do not have fragile, expensive decorations at a level that children can reach, or electric cords that they can trip over. Pay attention to areas where children can run into sharp furniture corners or fall down stairs.
If your guests will include toddlers, purchase safety gates and place them at the top and bottom of stairways. Also lock away all your hazardous chemicals to ensure children cannot access them. Do not leave them under your sink or in the pantry closet. To keep curious children safe, make sure that all matches and lighters are locked up in a safe place. Prepare your home for the benefit of your guests.
Inside the house
Now that you have made your home safer, you can also do a few more things to make sure it is ready to handle all your guests.
The plumbing in your bathrooms will be working overtime during the holidays. To avoid any clogged drains in your sinks, showers or tubs, you should use a proper drain-cleaning product prior to the holidays to clean out the drains. The garbage disposal and the dishwasher are more frequently in use during the holidays. Use garbage-disposal cleaner to thoroughly clean the disposer and eliminate offensive odours. Dishwasher cleaner disinfects the dishwasher and removes calcium build-up that can clog the dishwasher’s water jets and prevent it from running smoothly.
Outside the house
Do anything within your power to keep your home and yard safe and clean for everyone who will be with you during the holiday season. Pay particular attention to securing the gate and fence to the swimming pool and securely lock the garden shed where poisons and dangerous tools may be kept.
Our Employee Wellbeing Programme (EAP) is available 24 hours if you want to discuss home safety.