Safety Precautions for Hanging Halloween Lights
If you plan to deck your house out with lights this Halloween, there are some safety precautions to be mindful of in order to avoid turning your holiday fun into a disaster.
Decorating with lights used to be a tradition confined to the Christmas season, but nowadays it is not uncommon to see houses and yards brightly lit up for Halloween.
Safety precautions for hanging Halloween lights:
- Inspect your lights
Before hanging your lights, inspect them for frayed or bare wires, cracked sockets or any other wear and tear. Ensure your lights are in good condition to avoid getting shocked or having damaged lights ignite and cause a fire.
- Proper use
Make sure your lights are being used properly. Some lights are designed for indoor use only. You can tell by the UL mark tag on the lights if they are for indoor or outdoor use.
A green UL mark indicates indoor use only. A green UL mark means the lights can be used both indoors and out. Only purchase lights that display a UL mark tag, for that means the lights have been tested for safety. Be sure to turn off your lights before retiring for the night.
- Hang wisely
Don’t create hazards by running extension cords across pathways or by stringing lights close to, or on the ground. Doing so will run the risk of excited children tripping over them and falling or animals chewing through the wire. Use light hooks to hang your lights, as opposed to nailing or stapling through the wires.
- Use ladder safety
Use a sturdy ladder to reach high places. Don’t get up on a chair and risk losing your balance or the chair falling over. Wear slip resistant shoes and make sure the rungs of the ladder are dry. Move the ladder rather than reaching too far and potentially tipping the ladder over and falling. Keep your own hands free; have someone on the ground hand you the lights once you are already safely in place on a stable ladder. Hanging lights is not a singular task; it is wise to work someone by your side to hold the ladder, hand you the lights, and assist in any way for safety sake.
Certainly using strings of lights is preferable to the practice of having open candle flames in days past, and lessens the possibility of fire danger, if you use a common sense approach to the tasks of hanging and taking down the lights.
Don’t mar your Halloween fun by using poor judgment. Avoid the possibility of you, or someone else, spending the evening in the emergency room because you failed to be mindful of takingsafety precautionswhen hanging your Halloween lights.
