Home security and safety tips for Christmas

Here are some security, fire prevention, and general safety tips to keep you and your family safe during the festive season.

• Check that electrical wiring, for decorations kept in sheds or lofts, has not been nibbled by mice.
• Don’t overload sockets with too many plugs for decorations.
• Ensure decorations, and especially Christmas lighting, is badged safe for UK use.
• Keep decorations and helium balloons away from intruder detection units to avoid false alarms.
• Don’t keep internal novelty decorations or Christmas lights on all night.
• Use light timers to keep your home looking occupied.
• Extend and run extension leads for decorations fully out.  Don’t leave partially coiled up as they can overheat, creating a fire risk.
• Keep extensions and cables away from rainwater (off cars) powering decorations from a garage.
• Never repair a damaged wire connection with tape. This is very dangerous.
• Make sure your smoke alarms are tested and in working order.
• Test your intruder alarm is working.
• Don’t leave candles unattended.
• Make sure external decorations are properly grounded or fixed to cope with storms.
• If your fairy lights are playing up, bin them and buy new ones – to give you peace of mind.
• Keep a torch handy – one that actually works – just in case you do blow a fuse!.
• Ensure all food is properly defrosted and then thoroughly cooked as per the cooking instructions.
• Finally, the festive season is the most common time for trips (over wires) and falls from ladders (actually putting the stuff up). So please be careful and HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS.