Holiday Season Shopping: Safety Tips to Reduce Worker Risk

Christmas is the busiest time of the year for many workers. While many of the busiest workers may be employed in retail, workers across industries feel the effects of holiday stress, and holiday shopping is the signal that the pace of work may pick up considerably.

Retail workers, of course, deal with large crowds as well as increased handling of merchandise but non-retail workers also struggle with greater demands for products and services as well as their own desire to take care of things like holiday preparation at work and at home.

Here are some safety tips to ensure you and your coworkers have a reduced risk of injury while on the job.

• Go to work well-rested. It’s understandable that you want to spend as much time as you can socializing with your family and friends. And it can be hard to find the time to take care of shopping for and wrapping holiday gifts. Both of these things can tempt you to stay up later than you normally would. But by making sure you get enough rest, you can help protect yourself from preventable workplace accidents due to things like drowsiness.
  
  
• Keep your meals stored properly to prevent food poisoning. While you may be looking forward to having leftovers of your favorite seasonal dishes for lunch, keeping hot and cold foods stored at the proper temperature is important. Otherwise, you may be at risk of food poisoning.
  
  
• Stay hydrated. When you don’t get enough water, you might experience negative effects in addition to feeling thirsty. Dehydration can cause mild headaches and fatigue. You may also become irritable. These symptoms can negatively affect your productivity and the quality of your work as well as your ability to communicate effectively with your coworkers. 
  
  
• Practice good communication skills. While it may not seem like good communication has a direct influence on workplace safety, the stress of holiday shopping can lead to employees’ frayed nerves, impatience, and lack of focus. With more effective communication comes less frequent misunderstanding; this can minimize frustrations and mistakes. 
  
  
• Keep an eye out for the common workplace safety hazards that can affect you on any other day of the year. Workplace safety doesn’t ever get a day off so stay watchful for things like power cords across walkways, spills in the break room, and overloaded electrical outlets. Even seemingly innocent things like putting up holiday decorations can present danger as coworkers climb ladders to hang decorations as they get into the holiday spirit for themselves, customers, and vendors.

As the pace and intensity of work kick into high gear during the last few days of the year, holiday shopping safety tips become even more important. Works are juggling a lot of responsibilities as well as increased demands on their time and energy. Keeping common-sense safety tips at the forefront of their minds can go a long way in reducing the potential for workplace accidents and injuries.