“Merry Christmas” everyone. Christmas is here in a few short days and there are lots of activities going on which can act as distractions to our work. “Did that present we order arrive on time?” “Did we forget to invite anyone to Christmas dinner?” “What was I supposed to bring to that Christmas party?”

It is a challenge to stay focused at work during this time of year. So, this is when it is especially important to take four seconds for safety. When you find yourself working away and your thoughts running wild with all the plans and activities of Christmas, STOP, take those four short seconds to look around and come back to the present moment. Look for a hazard in the middle of your activity. Are you standing on a ladder? Are you in an awkward position or about to trip on something lying on the floor? Hazards do not go away. Only our awareness of the hazards goes away. And when we ignore hazards, we tend to get injured.

Christmas injuries tend put extra stress on everyone. Imagine yourself sitting around the Christmas table in a leg cast because you fell off a ladder or tripped over something. Unfortunately, these stories are more common that all of us might admit. Injuries at Christmas seem to magnify how many people are affected by an injury to one person. How many people count on you each day to come home safely? If you add them all up you might be surprised.

Taking four seconds for safety may seem unimportant to you yet it is the one activity, the one action you might take during a busy and distracted day which will have the most benefit in keeping you safe. Think of it as your Christmas present to yourself. In fact, you can think of each of those people who would be affected by an injury to you every time you take four seconds to refocus.

Think about this when you are about to drive away to some gathering this Christmas. The noise, the excitement, the distraction! Take a moment, take a big breath, count slowly to four, then drive away. Chances are that you will arrive safely once you focus for those four seconds.

1. Inspect electrical decorations for damage before use.
Cracked or damaged sockets, loose or bare wires, and loose connections may cause a serious shock or start a fire.

2. Do not overload electrical outlets.
Overloaded electrical outlets and faulty wires are a common cause of holiday fires. Avoid overloading outlets and plug only one high-wattage into each outlet at a time.

3. Never connect more than three strings of incandescent lights.
More than three strands may not only blow a fuse, but can also cause a fire.

4. Keep trees fresh by watering daily.
Dry trees are a serious fire hazard.

5. Use battery-operated candles.
Candles start almost half of home decoration fires (NFPA).

6. Keep combustibles at least three feet from heat sources.
A heat sources that was too close to the decoration was a factor in half of home fires that began with decorations (NFPA).

7. Protect cords from damage.
To avoid shock or fire hazards, cords should never be pinched by furniture, forced into small spaces such as doors and windows, placed under rugs, located near heat sources, or attached by nails or staples.

8. Check decorations for certification label.
Decorations not bearing a label from an independent testing laboratory such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Canadian Standards Association (CSA), or Intertek (ETL) have not been tested for safety and could be hazardous.

9. Stay in the kitchen when something is cooking.
Unattended cooking equipment is the leading cause of home cooking fires (NFPA).

10. Turn off, unplug, and extinguish all decorations when going to sleep or leaving the house.
Unattended candles are the cause of one in five home candle fires. Half of home fire deaths occur between the hours of 11pm and 7am (NFPA).

11. Unplug earphones or heard sets from your ear anytime crossing a road or any pathway.

12. Don’t Drink and drive.

“Merry Christmas” to everyone. May the Blessings of this season warm the hearts of you and your families.