Holiday celebrations often involve cooking, decorating, and gathering with family, friends, and colleagues. These activities can also introduce fire, electrical, and other safety hazards, particularly when decorations, cooking equipment, and heating sources are used more frequently.

In partnership with Risk Management & Safety (RMS), Business Affairs has compiled safety tips to help employees prevent accidents at home and on campus this holiday season.

Prevent Cooking Fires

Cooking is one of the leading causes of home fires, and unattended cooking is a major contributing factor. Preparing multiple dishes, hosting guests, and managing other holiday activities can create distractions that increase the risk of accidents. When preparing holiday meals, follow these precautions:

• Stay in the kitchen when frying, boiling, grilling, or broiling food. Turn off the stove if you need to leave.
• Check food regularly when baking, roasting, or simmering. Remain home while cooking, and use timers as reminders.
• Keep oven mitts, towels, packaging, and other flammable materials away from the stovetop.
• Keep children and pets away from hot surfaces and appliance cords.
• Avoid using the stove when sleepy or after consuming alcohol.

Decorate Safely

Holiday lights and decorations are fun, but they can create electrical hazards, increase fire risks, and obstruct emergency exits when installed improperly. In shared campus spaces, decorations must also allow employees and visitors to move safely through hallways, offices, and common areas. Whether decorating your home or office, follow these precautions:

• Inspect holiday lights for frayed wires, broken bulbs, and loose connections. Replace damaged strands.
• Prevent electrical overloads by following manufacturer instructions for connecting light strands, and avoid connecting extension cords to one another.
• Check that lights are rated for indoor or outdoor use and use them appropriately.
• Choose flame-resistant or flame-retardant decorations.
• Keep exits and safety equipment accessible. Never block doorways, emergency exits, fire extinguishers, or sprinkler heads with decorations.
• If using ladders, place them on stable, level surfaces, and wear closed-toe shoes when hanging decorations.
• Switch off holiday lights and electrical decorations before leaving the office or going to bed.

On campus, avoid personal space heaters, which can overload electrical circuits and create fire hazards. Open flames, including candles, are prohibited in campus workspaces.

Practice Winter Fire Safety

Candles, fireplaces, and outdoor fire pits are common during the cooler months, but open flames can easily ignite flammable materials like holiday decorations and furniture. Proper placement, supervision, and access to fire safety equipment can reduce the risk of injury and property damage.

• Place candles and fire pits at a safe distance from decorations, curtains, furniture, and other combustible items.
• Never leave fires unattended. Extinguish candles and outdoor fires before leaving the area or going to bed.
• Keep safety equipment accessible. When using an outdoor fire pit, have an appropriate fire extinguisher nearby.
• When possible, consider flameless alternatives. Battery-operated candles provide a similar effect without the risks associated with open flames.

Don’t know how to use a fire extinguisher? RMS offers fire extinguisher training to help employees understand how to respond to a fire emergency. Contact the team for information about training opportunities.

Maintain Your Holiday Tree

If you celebrate with a tree, keep these tips in mind. Live trees become increasingly flammable as they dry out, while artificial trees and their electrical components can also present hazards. Selecting appropriate decorations, maintaining live trees, and keeping all trees away from heat sources can help prevent fires.

• Keep trees away from fireplaces, heaters, and other heat sources.
• Water live trees daily to prevent them from drying out.
• On all trees, only use lights and electrical decorations certified by an independent testing laboratory, such as UL or ETL.
• Replace light strands that have damaged cords or loose bulb connections; don’t use them on a tree.
• Never use lit candles on or near a tree.
• Turn off tree lights before leaving home or going to bed.

Recycle Your Tree After the Holidays

Once the holiday season ends, recycling live Christmas trees removes them as a hazard from your home and provides an alternative to landfill disposal. UNLV's Rebel Recycling program collaborates with the Southern Nevada Christmas Tree Recycling Committee and the Springs Preserve to provide tree recycling opportunities throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

Collected trees are converted into mulch for local landscaping projects, which reduces landfill waste and supports the reuse of natural materials. Before dropping off a tree, remove all ornaments, lights, tinsel, and other decorations. Flocked trees are not accepted.

Find drop locations and learn more about the tree recycling program.