As the winter holidays approach, employees tend to deal with more distractions than usual. Planning dinners, hosting out-of-town family members, purchasing gifts, and figuring out holiday logistics can easily cause people’s minds to wander when they’re at work. From a health and safety perspective, it’s worth considering how these issues affect workers in the office, on site, on the road, and at home.

Fatigue

People are more likely to be fatigued during the holiday season because of extra tasks and responsibilities, such as last-minute shopping, home decorating, and going to school plays and activities. Fatigue can pose a big problem even if employees are not engaging in high-risk work. Injuries in the workplace are more likely to occur when employees are tired or run down. Fatigue is a complex issue; consider longer breaks or alternate work schedules to help compensate for seasonal fatigue.

Ladder Safety

Decorating the workplace is much easier and safer with multiple people to guard ladders and assist with bulky holiday decorations. With more frequent ladder use around the holidays, reinforce these refresher points on ladder safety:

  • Ensure the ladder’s stability before use.
  • Keep three points of contact at all times.
  • Never place a ladder on a surface other than the ground.

Drunk and Drowsy Driving

Work and family gatherings are often an opportunity for people to have a few drinks—but it’s imperative nobody is allowed to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol. No employer wants their workers involved in a car crash. Encourage employees to use public transportation or ride-share services for responsible transport.

Treat drowsy driving with the same level of conviction as drunk driving. People tend to minimize the risks involved with driving tired. The combination of a late night and a couple of drinks compounds the risk to disastrous levels.

Give the Gift of Safety!

Please use our Holiday Gift Giving Toolbox Talk to inspire some last-minute gift ideas for those on your list.

Additional Offerings

Safety training and consulting are only some of RETTEW’s 600+ services. Our safety team works hand in hand with engineers, scientists, project managers, and other technical experts at places such as manufacturing facilities, drill pads, and commercial construction sites. We are well respected in many industries and known for ensuring workers and equipment remain safe, which keeps your projects on track and your bottom line growing.