Outdoor holiday lights brighten the long winter night, but installing them puts you at risk of injury. To keep your yard lovely and yourself healthy, try these 10 holiday light safety tips from Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:
Before stringing outdoor lights, check for overhead power lines. Never place yourself or any object in a position that risks contact with a power line — the result can be fatal. Look up before raising ladders or other objects. Keep at least 10 feet away from overhead lines.
Before stringing lights on outdoor trees, make sure tree limbs haven’t grown into or near power lines. Branches, entire trees, and even the ground adjacent to a tree can become energized when trees contact power lines.
Make sure lights outside the house are approved for outdoor use. Never use indoor lights outdoors.
Follow the manufacturer’s limits for the number of light strings that can be connected together safely.
Always turn off decorative lights — indoors and outdoors — when leaving the house and before going to bed.
Never use electric lights on a metal home fixtures. The metal can become charged with electricity from faulty lights, and a person touching the fixture could be electrocuted.
Fasten outdoor lights securely to trees, house walls, or other firm supports to protect the lights from wind damage.
Use only insulated staples to hold strings in place, not nails or tacks. Or, run strings of lights through plastic hooks (available at hardware stores).
Remove outdoor holiday lights gently. Never pull or tug on lights — they could unravel and inadvertently wrap around power lines.
Plug outdoor electric lights and decorations into circuits protected by ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs). You can buy portable outdoor GFCIs or have an electrician install them permanently to your outdoor circuits.
Source: PG&E, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission