However you celebrate the holiday season, it should be a safe and largely stress-free environment for you and your loved ones to enjoy. Sadly, this is often not the case, as Christmas it is in fact the time of year when most accidents occur. While there is no way to ensure total safety at this or indeed any time of the year, there are many simple steps you can perform in order to avoid the chances of causing a Christmas calamity.

Here are a few simple but efficient measures you can perform in order to avoid accidents, and prevent some not-so-merry mishaps:

• Avoid dangerous situations when shopping: If you're planning a trip to the shopping centre either in the lead up to Christmas or during the sales, be sure to stay hydrated and do your best to avoid over-crowded areas. Obviously you won't be able to avoid crowds altogether, but try to use your better judgement to stay out of situations where crushing could occur. You should also avoid rushing if you can help it, as you could easily slip an injure yourself in the cold and damp conditions.

• Don't overload plug sockets: Fairy lights are a much-loved element of Christmas, but please be mindful of attempting to recreate the huge displays organized by your local council! An extension lead or socket should not use more than 13 amps or 3,000 watts of energy, so be sure to check the specifications of all your electrical items before use. These days there are lots of battery and solar powered options available for indoor and outdoor use, so this may be worth considering to reduce the number of plugs.

• Don't leave open flames unattended: Candles and open fires are a part of the traditional Christmas ideal, but they should always be treated with caution! People are 50% more likely to die in a house fire at Christmas than at any other time of year, so make sure that you are not leaving flames unsupervised, particularly around cards and paper decorations. On the same note, be sure to buy the correct batteries for any electrical items that have been purchased as gifts; you shouldn't be tempted to remove them from your smoke alarm!

• Use the proper equipment when reaching for something at height: When decorating your home or removing things from the attic, please be sure to use the proper ladder or step required for the height, do not use chairs and stools!

• Take care in the Kitchen: Be sure to keep children away from hot water and cooking fat, and avoid the consumption of alcohol when cooking. Also ensure that everything is properly cooked and in-date before serving, to avoid food poisoning.

• Keep Christmas plants away from children, animals and vulnerable people: Mistletoe, orange berries and the Christmas rose are all poisonous, so be sure to keep them out of harms way, or avoid them in favour of faux versions if you can.

• Be extra wary of choking hazards: Small parts from broken ornaments, packaging, crackers and the like could be lethal to small children, so be on the lookout for any stray items in their reach.

• Don't drink and drive: It may seem like a rather obvious point to make at any time of the year, but at Christmas people are more likely to relax and loose track of how much alcohol they've consumed, or are more willing to take risks on Christmas Day because they expect the roads to be quieter. Please use the same caution at Christmas as at any other time of the year to stay safe and well!

Please share these tips on Facebook and Twitter, to ensure safety for all this Christmas!

You can follow us @LabelSourceUK and find our Facebook page here.

Label Source supply an extensive range of labels for use in recording maintenance of equipment, plant and machinery, which are relevant for whichever type of maintenance system adopted. The ranges include our maintenance labels, maintenance tags, aluminium foil labels, write and seal labels, and equipment status labels and tags. Also, many others are produced to customer specification to include company information and inspection criteria.

So as part of your maintenance regime use these label and tag products to assist in safe maintenance practices for your workers and the environment, to provide lower process downtime through equipment failures, more efficient use of resources, and enhanced product quality.

Today marks the beginning of Road Safety Week, a flagship event created by road safety charity Break, which runs from the 23-29 of November. This year's theme is 'Drive less, live more', the aim of which is to help prevent injuries and fatalities on the road, while also causing people to think about their overall car use. 

To give you a better understanding of why this event is so important for health and safety in the UK, here are some facts which were released by break today:

• Five deaths, and 64 serious injuries happen daily on UK roads
• Air pollution is estimated to kill 52,000 people in the UK each year
• In a survey of a 1,000 driving adults, 85% believed we should reduce overall car use
• Road casualties in the UK went up by 4% last year.
• One in three non-cyclists said they would be more willing to cycle their commute if routes were safer

It's clear that driving has a serious impact on the heath and well-being of the UK as a whole, due in part to driving-related pollution and immobility,as well as fatalities and injuries caused by human error. In order to help promote Road Safety Week, Label Source would like to advise all of our customers to use and display the correct road safety signs at all times! Our full range of signs and barriers can be found here.

Remember, accurate and clear road safety signs can reduce the chances of an accident, by warning divers of hazards and speed restrictions! 

To see the full list of statistics published by Brake, click here, or take a look at their interactive resource.

We would also encourage you to share this post on Twitter and Facebook, using the hatshtags #RoadSafetyWeek and #drivelesslivemore  

For sites with high levels of hazardous substances and dangerous chemicals, the new Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations came into force on 1^st June 2015. This is the introduction of the European Directive known as Seveso 111 in the UK. The main change involves the move from the CHIP (Chemicals – Hazard Information and Packaging to Supply) classification to the new CLP (Classification Labelling and Packaging) standards, which introduces the GHS (Globally Harmonised System).

The reclassification involves converting the substance inventories from the old to the new classification, as well as involving new additions such as pyrophoric solids and liquids, and flammable aerosols. These cover petrochemical, pharmaceutical, agrochemical, nuclear and explosives for on-shore sites.

In addition, all COMAH sites must make certain information about their sites and hazards in an electronic format for public access. This should include prevention policies, emergency plans, and methods of warning the public in the event of a major incident.

Label Source supplies a comprehensive range of GHS signs and GHS tapes, as well as hazard warning signs for chemicals and dangerous substances, which can assist in your risk assessment and training requirements. These signs can form an important component in the prevention of major accidents, and in limiting the effects if any such incident occurs.

Here at Label Source, we pride ourselves on delivering functinonal and efficent labelling solutions for the workplace. Our Asset Tags and Seral Numbering Lables are perfect for use with portable electrical items, and can be used to provide warranty details, guarentee information and proof of ownership. 

Our numbered labels come in a range of different designs and materials, which include:

• Assetmark - These come in self-adhesive vinyl and are used for more general purposes 
• Assetmark Plus - These labels are made from polyester and are designed for higher operating tempratures (perfect for laptops that sometimes overheat)
• Assetmark Foil - These aluminium foil lables are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use
• Assetmark Destructible - Ideal for anti-theft puropses, these labels fracture on attempted removal 
• Assetmark Tamper Evident - Similar to the destructable labels but more advanced, these leave behind a security pattern when removed.

As well as offering universal, durable asset lables, we also offer the option of customisation. Our design team can create a label that is tailored to your needs, while also sporting your company name and/or logo. If our variety of sizes does not include what you are looking for, we can also offer a range of bespoke size options to suit your requirements.

Email design@labelsource.co.uk for more information, or call 0800 3761694 (from the UK) / 0442920 865212 (Outside of UK)