Safety doesn’t take a winter break. In fact, every holiday season, thousands of people suffer from a range of seasonal injuries, incidents and ailments, including food poisoning, electrical shocks, decoration-related injuries and car crashes. 

A lot of these incidents occur at home or on the road, but they also affect workers’ performance on the job, which means employers should take an avid interest in promoting winter holiday safety.

Protecting workers 24/7

Some workplaces might be reluctant to deal with off-the-clock safety because they perceive it as beyond their purview or as trying to control their employees’ private lives. But workplace safety is strongly correlated with off-the-job safety. By giving workers the skills and awareness to stay safe at home during the holidays, you’ll also be giving them the ability to avoid incidents at work. 

Additionally, when organizations show their employees that they’re genuinely involved in their safety, worker engagement goes up in the workplace—and engaged workers tend to be safer workers. All told, helping to prevent injuries off the clock also helps prevent injuries on the clock.

Holiday safety resources

Safety managers now have free access to ready-made holiday safety resources they can share with employees before the season’s hazards start taking their toll. 

These holiday safety materials include: 

• a poster outlining the 8 most common holiday hazards; 
• PowerPoint slides for a holiday-themed safety presentation; 
• a brochure for employees to take home to their families; and 
• a holiday safety activities for children. 

The video below describes all the materials in detail and provides advice on how to use them. 

These holiday resources should be used before the busy season starts so that there is enough time for employees to internalize the lessons and take the materials home to their families. 

Treating seasonal, off-the-clock hazards with as much attention as workplace hazards can help organizations ensure that employees come back to work safe and healthy after their holiday break. So take a look at the video, download the materials and start using them before the winter season starts.