Christmas lights glitter above dark, afternoon highstreets. Shoppers bristle through the biting cold with bags and boxes with aimless intent to purchase. Retailers and food businesses go crazy! And in that craziness, safety standards can slip.
Staying open for the holidays
For those working feverishly over the Christmas period, here are five Christmas holiday safety tips:
- Ensure your employees are well organised, aware of workplace risks and not understaffed. This will help reduce stress, ensure good housekeeping and keep human error to a minimum.
- Have enough First Aiders to cover all your opening times.
- Ensure Fire Marshals are on site to manage emergency situations should any occur. They should also carry out essential workplace checks as usual.
- Be vigilant and flexible. If you come across any unforeseen risks or hazards, work quickly to control or eliminate them.
- If an accident or incident does occur, make sure you record it appropriately and do everything you can to prevent reoccurrence.
Christmas holiday safety tips for shutting down
Many of you will be closing your company doors for your annual Christmas shut down. When everyone has left, and your premises are dark, still and silent there are still safety (and security) issues to consider. So we have some Christmas holiday safety tips for you too.
Here are a few things to consider when shutting down over Christmas:
- Switch off non-essential equipment such as printers, scanners, computers, monitors and Christmas decorations;
- Shut and lock all external windows and doors;
- Turn the heating down to 16 degrees C to maintain some heat and to stop any chance of pipes freezing and getting damaged;
- Ensure correct storage of hazardous substances or materials;
- Ensure correct storage of general equipment and don’t overfill storage spaces;
- Remove any flammable waste or other ignition sources that could cause a fire;
- Perform and record fire safety checks before locking up (more on this here);
- Ensure all fire warning and precautionary equipment is working satisfactorily;
- Ensure emergency contact details are provided to relevant personnel;
- Avoid leaning bins and other objects that could be used as ignition sources up against buildings (prevention from arson);
What about ADL Associates?
Our offices are closed between 22nd December 2017 and 3rd January 2018. For any out of hours emergency support, please contact us via our website or call us on 01926 623 133 and you will be provided with emergency contact details. One of our team will then be in touch as soon as possible.
