Christmas Decor Spreads Safety Tips and Holiday Cheer

Leading Holiday and Event Decorating Company Helps Families Avoid Holiday Mishaps. End Quote

Lubbock, TX (1888PressRelease) November 06, 2013 - The holiday season is marked by a wide range of traditions, and one of the most popular and enduring of these traditions is putting up holiday decorations. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, during the two months surrounding the holiday season, more than 14,000 people are treated annually in hospital emergency rooms due to injuries related to holiday decorating, and this number continues to rise.

Christmas Decor provides professional holiday and event decorating, eliminating unnecessary accidents for local residents. Its designers are trained to execute lighting displays on high roofs, ladders, and in tricky situations. Christmas Decor installation crews are professionally trained and use the utmost of care when decorating clients' homes, without damaging moldings, roofing, or architectural elements.

"As a premiere holiday lighting and decorating company, it is our goal to remind home owners about holiday decorating safety tips," Brandon Stephens, President of Christmas Decor, said. "One minor mistake can lead to a major injury and even death, turning the holidays from a time of celebration into a time of tragedy. We want families to be able to fully enjoy their holiday season."

Christmas Decor always recommends using a professional for holiday decorating because of injuries due to falling and electrocution, but provides the following tips to improve safe practices for residents insistent on doing it themselves:

• Use proper climbing equipment - 82 percent of consumers reported climbing on chairs, counters, shelves and other pieces of furniture when decorating for the holidays, according to the Home Safety Council. Invest in a sturdy and reliable ladder with slip-resistant feet that can adapt to different heights according to your needs.

• Have a helping hand - According to the CDC, falls from ladders are ranked as the most common cause of holiday decorating related injuries. If you are decorating in tall spaces and using a ladder, have someone at the base to ensure it remains sturdy to avoid a fall.

• Don't overload electrical circuits - Fires are caused by disrupting electricity. The probability for a fire diminishes when the circuits aren't overloaded and fuses or circuit breaker panels are checked to find out what the home can handle. Use no more than three standard-size sets of lights per extension cord and never plug more than two extension cords together.

• Keep extension cords tucked away - A lot of holiday decorations require electricity to power them which creates a potential safety hazard. If extension cords are left in high foot traffic areas, they can cause decorators and others to trip and fall if they are not careful. It is best to tape down any ground-level extension cords and keep them tucked away and untangled to avoid any hazards.

• Don't string too close to water - Water and electricity have never mixed. Remember to keep all plugs and connectors away from puddles and sprinklers. Wrap all plug connections with plastic electrical tape to make them watertight. To prevent moisture from entering blub sockets, bulbs should face the ground.

• Indoor or Outdoor? - The Home Safety Councils stresses that you check the color-coded UL (Underwriters Laboratories) mark on the product's package if you are unsure whether the light strings are for indoor or outdoor use. A green holographic UL mark indicates indoor use only while a red one indicates that the product is safe for both indoor and outdoor use.

• Stay grounded - The Electrical Safety Foundation International advices decorators to plug outdoor electric lights and decorations into circuits protected by ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) which prevent electric shock. Portable GFCIs provide flexibility in using receptacles that are not GFCI-protected, and are often used outdoors.

These are just a few measures that can help ensure residents are not involved in a serious accident and stay safe this holiday season.

About Christmas Decor
Since its inception in 1986, Christmas Decor has risen to become the premier holiday lighting and decorating company in North America. The Texas-based company was founded by Blake Smith as an off-season supplement to his landscape business and as a method to provide year-round work for employees. Christmas Decor quickly emerged as a viable business opportunity and today, operates in more than 375 markets in 48 states and Canada. Christmas Decor is highly revered in its field and has received consistent recognition for its efforts, including its popular Decorated Family Program which has been featured on The TODAY Show, TIME.com, CNN and FOX, among others. For more information, visit www.christmasdecor.net.

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