How to avoid seasonal health slip ups

The trend for lighting up the outside of our houses in December is putting Christmas decorators at increased risk of falling from a great height. 

Stay-safe secrets: Always use a ladder during daylight hours and don’t stand on a rung higher than fourth from the top.

Place all the lights in a container and raise and lower it using a rope while maintaining three-point contact with the ladder: one hand/two feet or two hands/one foot.

Deaths from heart attacks are high at this time of the year, as cold weather makes your ticker do overtime to keep your body warm. Part of the problem is that some heart-attack symptoms are similar to those of indigestion—another seasonal hazard. 

Stay-safe secrets: Sudden chest, neck, throat, jaw or arm discomfort—or shortness of breath or nausea that comes out of the blue—needs to be taken seriously.

Family history, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes and being overweight increase the risk. If in doubt, always go to A&E.

All those candles make fires more likely, as does all the cooking. Of course, your Christmas tree is a fire hazard too.

Stay-safe secrets: Never leave food unattended on the hob and don’t let candles burn in an empty room. Make sure they’re a long way from the tree and other flammable items, such as wrapping paper.

Watering your tree every day will also make it less likely to go up like a torch.

There’s a spike in food poisoning over the festive break. Washing your turkey will spread germs to the kitchen surfaces while eating cold turkey when it’s past its best doesn’t help either. Undercooking the bird can also make you ill.

Stay-safe secrets: Don’t wash your turkey before cooking it but do wash your hands after they’ve been in contact with the raw bird. Clean work surfaces thoroughly too.

Make sure the juices run clear when you pierce the cooked meat, and eat up any leftovers within two days.

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