While surfing the intranet yesterday I came across an article regarding Holiday Hazards that are a regular occurrence each year. By making them known the hope is that people will take heed and think twice before becoming a statistic themselves.
Before I started clicking through the pictures of each hazard information I tried to guess what some of the hazards might be. I came up with three that were on the list, one being stress, two, auto accidents and the third was over eating and weight gain. There were several that I had no idea rank so high on the Holiday Hazard list.
Here are a few that opened my eyes:
Choking on nuts – Nearly 3,000 people choke and die each year in the U.S. from nuts and at the Holiday time more nuts are eaten than at other times of the year, make sure you chew really well.
Decorating disasters – During the Holiday season over 5,000 injuries are from falling while decorating.
Sledding Catastrophes – This one really took me by surprise, there are approximately 33,000 injuries each year during the Holiday season from sledding accidents.
Home fires – Over 400 hundred residential fires involve Christmas trees.
Poisonous Holiday Plants – Watch the pets and small children around Holly and Mistletoe both of these plants can be very toxic. Those cute little red berries look very tasty to a little toddler.
Heart attacks – Heart related deaths peak between the end of December and early January. The deadliest day reported by one study is December 25th.
The Holidays are a time for enjoying those we love being with. Far too often we allow the preparation to become overwhelming and stressful. A study showed women’s stress levels rise 44% compared to men’s 31%. If you begin to experience a rise in stress over the next few weeks maybe you need to rethink what you are doing and what needs to be done. Stress can cause us to loose sight of the true meaning of the Holiday Season.
Lets stay safe this Holiday Season.
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