Holiday decoration safety hinges on ladder use

A lot of people will spending this holiday weekend putting up their Christmas decorations.

Romey Romero of KTAR’s “Rosey on the House” show says before you climb up to put your outside Christmas lights up, make sure your ladder is safe.

“58 hundred people every year in America end up in the hospital from hanging holiday decorations,” Romero said. Most of the accidents happen on the ladder.

“You want to look for any color fading (on the ladder),” Romero said. “If you see the fiberglass itself, and not just a smooth coat of paint, that’s a very good sign that it’s a weakened ladder and it may be time to replace it.”

As for the lights, you should inspect the strings to make sure they’re not frayed or cracked. That could be a fire hazard.

After the season’s over, Romero says you should make sure the lights are safely stored.

“Buy an extension cord spool to wind them up with at the end of the year,” Romero said. “That way they (the strings of lights) don’t end up in wads. You can spend a lot of time untangling wads.”

He said that by buying the spool, you will have a much easier time putting the lights up next year because you won’t be up on the ladder trying to untangle them.

Another good idea is to follow any manufacturer’s instructions while you are putting up your lights at the beginning of the season, then taking them down after the holidays are over.