Christmas light safety

Are you ready for the holidays to arrive? For many people, it means climbing in the attic, pulling out boxes of light strings and climbing up a ladder to string lights around the house. Both ladders and electrical lights provide some significant safety hazards - 30,000 people are injured from falling off ladders each year alone.

Here are a few items to keep in mind as you deck the halls of your house.

• Always use a ladder. Since most people will be dealing with electric lights, it is better to use a wooden or fiberglass ladder.
• Check your ladder for cracks and breaks, especially if you haven't used the ladder in a while.
• Work within an arms distance from you while you are on a ladder. Don't lean or stretch out to reach far away items.
• Put all your materials in a tool belt as you climb a ladder.
• Check all light strands for frays - this could cause a short or a fire.
• Don't use nails, tacks or staples to hang lights.
• Only use outdoor approved lights and extension cords.
• Turn off your lights at night or when you are leaving the house for an extended period of time.

We hope these tips ensure you will have a safe holiday.

Fall tips

As the summer winds down, many people will be looking to come back from vacation and start working on their long-awaited home or office improvement projects. Waiting for the cooler weather is a smart decision - more construction accidents happen during the summer than any other time of the year, mainly because people become dehydrated.

Still, the chances of an accident happening during that home improvement project are great, unless you take some specific steps toward keeping yourself safe. With 35 years of experience in construction, here are some tips we would like to share to keep each of you safe:

• Read the manufacturers' instructions on all power tools and equipment. It's important that you know how to use much of the equipment before trying it out.
• Wear safety glasses. One of the most common injuries on a construction site is when something gets in a person's eyes. This is easily avoidable.
• Protect your head, hands and lungs. If there are overhead repairs, wear a hard hat. If you are working inside with lots of dust, wear a mask. And always wear a set of work gloves.
• Understand ladder safety. Another popular injury is a fall from a ladder or scaffolding. Here's a great list of ladder safety tips from the U.S. Department of Labor: Ladder safety
• Tennis shoes are for tennis. Always wear work boots. A good pair of tennis shoes won't protect you from nails or if something is dropped on your foot. However, a pair of work boots will protect you from most accidents.

We want to make sure you are safe. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or reply to this e-mail. And, if you feel you need a professional, don't wait to call!