Minimizing Holiday Hazards

While decorations help make the holiday season festive, they can also be hazardous, especially for children.

Each year, emergency rooms treat about 12,500 people with injuries related to holiday decorations, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Christmas trees alone are involved in about 300 fires annually, the CPSC says, resulting in 10 deaths, 30 injuries and an average of about $10 million in property damage and loss. In addition, there are more than 13,000 candle-related fires each year, which result in 140 deaths and $205 million in property loss.

These mishaps are usually avoidable, and occur when holiday revelers don't take precautions outlined by CPSC. The agency issues its latest set of tips Monday.

Page Faulk, senior counsel to CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton, visits The Early Show and answers questions to help you keep your holiday safe and avoid accidents and property damage.

What are the safety risks associated with the holiday decorations?

Sometimes, people are having such a nice time during the holidays, they forget things like extinguishing their candles when they go to bed. Or they don't keep their Christmas trees well watered to prevent them from drying out. A dry tree not only loses its color and drops needles all over your house, it's also quite dangerous. Dry trees can catch fire in a matter of seconds.

How can we help assure Christmas trees are safe?

When purchasing a live tree, check for freshness. A fresh tree is green, the needles are hard to pull from the branches, and the needles don't break when you bend them between your fingers. When you tap the tree on the ground, you should not lose many needles.

When you set the tree up at home, place it away from fireplaces and radiators. Excited kids looking for presents may knock them over. As an added precaution, it's good to place a screen around your fireplace. Be sure to keep your stand filled with water.

Trees are normally wrapped in lights. Do the lights pose a safety hazard?

Yes. The CPSC monitors holiday lights and other decorations sold at stores and on the Internet to make sure they meet certain standards.

What do we need to know when purchasing and hanging lights?

You want to make sure your holiday lights bear the mark of a recognized testing lab, so that they meet current safety standards. Also, check each set of lights for broken or cracked sockets, frayed wires, or loose connections. Throw out damaged sets. Use no more than three sets of lights on each extension cord.

The same rules apply for outdoor lights, but there are a few more considerations. Outdoor electric lights and decorations should be plugged into circuits protected by ground fault circuit interrupters (gfcis). Portable outdoor gfcis can be purchased where electrical supplies are sold. Turn off your holiday lights when you go to bed or leave the house. The lights could short out and start a fire.

What about candles?

Always place candles out of reach of children. You might think candles on a tree or other evergreens make for a beautiful Victorian Christmas, but they are very dangerous. Use lights instead, and only flame-resistant materials to trim a tree.

All candles have to come with warning labels. The labels are there to remind consumers to keep burning candles in sight. Never leave a lit candle unattended, especially when young kids are around.

What are some other potential holiday hazards to look out for?

Remember that children under three-years-old put everything in their mouths. They can choke on small parts from toys, small pieces of decorations, even nuts or round candies.

Keep small items up high, away from young children. The CPSC has a "small parts test cylinder" to make sure toys intended for children under three do not have small parts.

Avoid decorations that are sharp or breakable. Keep trimmings with small, removable parts out of the reach of children, to keep them from swallowing small pieces.

Avoid trimmings that resemble candy or food that may tempt children to eat them.

Choose tinsel or artificial icicles made of plastic or nonleaded metals. Leaded materials are hazardous if ingested by children.

Plants can become dangerous if children decide to eat them in large quantities. Holly can cause skin inflammation and an upset stomach. Mistletoe can be toxic. Keep them out of the reach of children. Call a poison control if a child has decided to have these items for dessert.

One more important note, on a seemingly harmless item. Don't burn wrapping paper in the fireplace A flash fire may result.

What should you be aware of if you are spending the holidays at a grandparent's house not set up for youngsters, or if you are hosting young kids and your home isn't childproofed?

When visiting grandparents, or if they come to visit, make sure they keep their medicines (which can be very toxic to young children) out of the reach and out of sight of children under 5. Use child-resistant packaging, and don't let kids have access to Grandma's purse.

Cigarette lighters a concern if there are kids around. Keep cigarette lighters away from children under 5. The CPSC has a standard requiring that lighters be child-resistant. But some kids can operate them. Lighters are not toys. Keep them away from young children.