It’s the best time of the year! You can keep it that way by paying attention to some safety and security rules.

If you follow these general rules, you can be assured a safe holiday season:

• Take time out now to test your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms should be installed on every level of your home and outside each sleeping area. Additional smoke alarms should be installed inside each bedroom.
• Be sure to share your family fire escape plan with any overnight guests or babysitters.
• Arrange your holiday displays so as to avoid overloading electrical outlets with too many decorations or devices. Inspect all decorations, cords and outlets for damage before use. Keep electrical cords out of doorways and high traffic areas where they pose a tripping hazard. Do not pinch cords or affix them to walls, ceilings, or floors with staples or nails, which can damage the insulation.

Some more tips about lights:

• Be careful with cords, and make sure not to mount lights in a way that damages chords
• Make sure all the bulbs work and that there are no frayed wires, broken sockets or loose connections.
• Plug all outdoor electric decorations into circuits with ground-fault circuit interrupters to avoid potential shocks.

Entertaining

• When cooking for holiday visitors, don’t forget to focus on the oven and stove
• Test your smoke alarms, and let guests know what your fire escape plan is.

Fireplace

• Remove all papers, boxes and decorations from the the surrounding area before starting a fire in the fireplace

Wrapping papers can cause a flash fire in the fireplace, so don’t burn it in there!

Children and Pets

• Keep decorations at least 6 inches above a child’s reach.
• Pointsettas are poisonous, keep them out of reach
• Tinsel can fall on the floor and a curious child or pet may eat it. This can cause anything from mild distress to death.
• Watch children and pets around space heaters or the fireplace. Do not leave a child or pet unattended.
• Store scissors and any sharp objects that you use to wrap presents out of your child’s reach.

For more information, contact Shield Security at 1-800-4shield (1-800-474-4353).