The Christmas health hazards we all need to watch out for
‘Tis the most time of the year
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Your support makes all the difference.Christmas is meant to be the time for tinsel, mince pies and The Muppets Christmas Carol, not a trip to A&E. But when routines are different, the house is full of fairy lights (some on their absolute last legs) and the oven is in overdrive, you can see how it happens.
There is lots you can do to keep the whole family safe over the holidays, though.
“We want people to have fun at Christmas,” says research manager at The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), James Broun. “You’re not going to be having fun if you’re going to A&E on Christmas Eve, or your grandparents have a slip. It’s about trying to create an environment where you can have fun by making your house safe in practical ways.”
If you do suffer an accident, seek medical help immediately, but with a bit of awareness and prep, you can have a very safe and very merry Christmas…
Slips and falls
Santa might fall down the chimney, but for the rest of us, falls aren’t a trivial matter – they’re the leading cause of accidental death in the UK. “Thousands of people die every year as a result of falls, and many hundreds of thousands are hospitalised,” says Broun – in 2023, 450,000 people ended up in A&E because of falls.
“Christmas creates the conditions for specific types of fall,” he adds. “When people go up into the loft to get boxes down, or the rafters of their garage, they often end up climbing a ladder, something a lot of homeowners don’t actually do that often.”
Older people who are less steady on their feet are more likely to have serious falls – 3,500 over-65s die from them every year – while children may tramp after their parents into the loft or up the ladder, and fall. Stringing lights up, in and outside the house, can cause more than a few wobbles and a house full of extended family increases the risk of trips. “They’re not necessarily familiar with your stairs, where things are at night when they go downstairs for a glass of water,” says Broun. “Maybe the kids have left toys on the stairs…”
The key is awareness: watch where the kids are, prop ladders up correctly and “if you’re in an unfamiliar space and it’s night time, maybe you’ve had a bit to drink, put a light on if you’re walking down the stairs, hold the handrail, and let’s not leave children’s toys scattered around,” says Broun.
Burns
Scalding yourself with gravy and burning yourself getting the turkey out of the oven is very possible at this time of year, as is singeing your eyebrows if you’re carrying around a flaming Christmas pudding.
But, RoSPA head of policy, Adrian Simpson says a major reason for spikes in burns at this time of year is hot water bottles. The number of cases of children suffering hot water bottle burns has increased by 55% according to the Children’s Burns Trust. “People are using hot water bottles a lot more due to the cost of living crisis,” says Simpson.
“People traditionally keep hot water bottles in their families for many years. You will see a daisy wheel on it that will tell you the year and month it was manufactured. We advise people to check the age of the hot water bottle to make sure it’s not perishing.”
Full-blown electrical fires are also a potential Christmas hazard, thanks to overloaded extension leads and faulty fairy lights, which can also cause electric shocks.
Watch your tree too. “I can imagine a scenario where a very curious cat likes the glistening bauble at the top of the tree, decides to climb it, accidentally pulls it over, and it lands dangerously close to somebody’s open fire while they’re prepping a turkey,” says Broun.
“Think about where things are placed in a room. If you’ve got a tree that is real, water it. If you’ve got a plastic tree, make sure it conforms to British Standards and be careful of it near open heat sources, because it can potentially be flammable.”
Car accidents
“Collisions caused by rain, sleet, snow, or fog increased by 8% over the last couple of years. 59 people were killed due to slippery roads in 2023, and rain, sleet, snow or fog caused 21 deaths on the road,” says Broun. Along with the weather at this time of year, it’s dark much earlier and nighttime driving is more tiring, making things riskier when you’re driving home for Christmas.
Then there’s the risks of drink driving. “Last year, almost 9,000 drivers were caught drink driving, which was an absolutely huge amount,” says Simpson. “Don’t drink and drive – at all.”
Hidden hazards
Your toddler will likely disagree, but Christmas decorations are not toys, and as such, are not regulated like toys. “Toys have a tremendous amount of safety rules and regulations around them, things like heavy metals used in them, safety warnings, choking warnings, that do not apply to Christmas decorations,” explains Simpson. “For caregivers of children or vulnerable adults, think, could those decorations go a bit further up the tree where they are more out of sight and reach?”
Another thing that is “hugely unsafe” for children – and if ingested, can cause serious internal injury and even death – is button magnets. “Keep them out of the reach of children. Don’t leave them lying around. Once they are used and spent, dispose of them very, very quickly,” warns Simpson.
When it comes to buying toys as presents, “we advise parents and caregivers to look for the UKCA or CE marking on toys,” says Simpson.
“This is the manufacturer declaring that the goods conform to all the relevant health and safety and environmental requirements. And make sure the product is bought from a legitimate, reputable retailer, not one that’s popped up overnight, because we simply don’t know how many safety checks that retailer has done.” He adds: “Don’t prioritise cost savings over safety.”