A Happy - and Safe - Christmas

Ghost of Christmas past

A large company I used to work for hired a venue for its call centre staff Christmas party. It was, in fact, an ice rink which had been floored-over to create a nightclub throughout the festive season. An unfortunate young employee however jammed her high heel between two floorboards whilst dancing, and broke her ankle. Needless to say, this led to a claim for compensation. The reason for mentioning this would be that a group of employees enjoying a private drink or meal together on their way home is their own affair, but an officially-sanctioned staff event, organised and paid for by the employer is treated as part of their employment. Even whilst out partying therefore, the employee with the broken ankle was technically “at work”, hence entitled to apply for compensation.

Bah humbug

Hospital statistics around this time of year show a blip in the number of workers suffering falls from heights. The cause?  You guessed it – putting up decorations in the office! Contrary to popular myth, health & safety specialists aren’t killjoys (we enjoy the festivities as much as anyone else), but we’d rather people enjoyed Christmas at work rather than in an A&E department. Some admirable companies I have come across address the issue in their office risk assessment and put short procedures in place covering the safest ways for staff to hang up decorations.

Sprinkling of festive cheer

Most offices tend not to have fire sprinklers fitted unless the office block is attached to a high-value factory or warehouse. One little tip I’d like to pass on from my own experience is that, whilst ceiling sprinkler heads may appear to offer a convenient peg for attaching decorations, the glass bulbs in them are quite fragile. An accidental discharge of rusty brown sprinkler water could literally put the dampeners on your Christmas.  Avoid at all costs!

Getting in the spirit

Alcohol can be a great socialiser of course, however the WHO estimates that around 5% of all deaths result from the harmful use of alcohol. This figure rises to 13.5% in people aged 20–39 years. So much has been written about the ill-effects of alcohol and its part in accident causation, that there is little my blog can add here. Suffice to point out that, in the short term, staff may come to regret too much inebriation the day after a company Christmas party, and in the long term can suffer adverse mental health issues from depression and memory loss, to suicide.  See Drinkaware. Perhaps best to keep an eye on staff and encourage them to spread out their drinking, so they are only consuming alcohol at a moderate rate throughout the event? Happy Christmas, and looking forward to seeing you in 2023!

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Arinite clients worldwide appreciate we provide practical, no-nonsense advice about what you need to do to establish and maintain a safe and healthy working environment. Our team of health and safety consultants takes pride in keeping health and safety simple. If you need to call upon our expert assistance, or just for an informal chat, please call our office on 0207 947 9581, or contact us here. Jan Mirkowski