Seasonal Safety Reminders:

During the holiday season most of us are busy with shopping, travel, parties, and celebrating with family, friends and good neighbors. But oftentimes, long lines, traffic jams, cooking calamities and other mishaps are part of the holiday hustle and bustle. State Farm is here to help your holiday celebrations go right with safety tips.

Wishing you and yours a healthy, happy, SAFE holiday season!

Holiday Decorating Tips

Follow these tips to help keep your home safe:

Candles

• Keep candles on a stable, heat-resistant surface and at least one foot away in all directions from combustible items.
• Don’t leave candles unattended or within reach of children and pets.
• Don’t allow candles to burn to the bottom of their container.
•  Try using “flameless” candles instead.

Lights:

• Use only lights that have been tested for safety by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, such as UL. Lights for both indoor and outdoor usage must meet strict requirements that testing laboratories are able to verify.
• Check each set of lights, new or old, for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections.
• Check outdoor lights for labels showing that the lights have been certified for outdoor use, and only plug them into a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI)-protected receptacle or a portable GFCI.

Selecting and using extension cords:

• Purchase only cords that have been approved by an independent testing laboratory.
• For outdoor projects, use only extension cords marked for outdoor use.
• Avoid powering multiple appliances with one cord.
• Never use indoor extension cords outdoors.
• Don’t plug multiple cords together.
• Don’t run extension cords under rugs or furniture and never staples or nails.
• Stop using extension cords that feel hot to the touch.

Additional Decorating Content Links:

• Your Guide to Safe Holiday Decorating
• How to Avoid a Holiday Decorating Disaster

Holiday Cooking Safety Tips:

• The leading cause of fires in the kitchen is unattended cooking.
• Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, boiling or broiling food.
• Keep anything that can catch fire — oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains — away from your stovetop.
• Always cook with a lid beside your pan. If you have a fire, slide the lid over the pan and turn off the burner. Do not remove the cover because the fire could start again. Let the pan cool for a long time.
• Never throw water on a kitchen fire.
• Make sure you have working smoke alarms.

Turkey Fryer Fires:

• More than one-third of fires involving a fryer start in a garage or patio. Cook outdoors on a flat level surface, at least 10 feet away from any buildings or trees and keep the fryer off any wooden structures, such as a deck or patio.
• Shut off the fuel source or flame when adding the turkey to the hot oil to prevent a dangerous flare-up, which can occur when oil spills over the rim.
• Make sure your turkey is properly thawed and dried before lowering it slowly into the pot.
• Never leave a hot turkey fryer unattended.
• Do not use ice or water to cool down oil or extinguish an oil fire.
• Keep an extinguisher approved for cooking or grease fire nearby.

Additional Holiday Cooking Content Links:​

• Eat, Fry, Love: A Cautionary Remix
• Putting Kitchen Safety First

Holiday Shopping Tips

Parking lots are busy and have increased vehicle and pedestrian traffic during the holiday season.

• Use identified travel lanes and watch out for others cutting across lanes.
• Slow down and watch out for cars backing up.
• Watch for pedestrians.
• Park away from other vehicles to help avoid door dings.
• Store purchases, packages, and valuables out of sight.
• Always lock your vehicle and take your keys.

Additional Holiday Shopping Content Links:​

• 16 Travel Safety Tips
• Holiday Safety Alert
• Home Safe Home
• Hustle and Bustle and Fire and Burglary - Keep your Home Safe This Holiday Season
• Tips for a Safer Holiday Season