The winter holiday season is traditionally a festive and eventful time of year. Celebrations, family gatherings and visits from houseguests traditionally increase in number during the winter holiday season. Statistics show that incidents of residential fires and electrical accidents typically increase during the winter holiday season, due in part to the increased electricity consumption resulting from decorations and entertaining. It is critical that families remember to keep safety in mind while enjoying this exciting, festive and extremely busy time of year.
The Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) is the premier 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to promoting electrical safety at home and in the workplace. Each winter, ESFI engages in a national holiday safety campaign to increase awareness of the safety concerns specific to holiday activities and encourage families and communities throughout the country to Make Safety a Tradition of the holiday season. This year’s campaign specifically addresses the safety concerns surrounding holiday decorating and entertaining, and provides consumers with tools to help them keep family, friends and guests safe during all of their holiday activities.
New and relevant statistics are an important asset for demonstrating the need for safety messages and programs. ESFI developed a new consumer survey instrument for 2010. This survey was distributed to a cross-section of U.S. population demographics, whose responses were then collectively analyzed. The purpose of this survey was to provide additional insight into holiday-related consumer behaviors. The trends and data garnered from this survey tool will be used to help draw consumer and media attention to the unique safety hazards posed by holiday activities.
|
