Photo by Joe Shlabotnik

New Year’s Eve is fast approaching and with the ball about to drop in Times Square, one should plan ahead to make sure their festivities go on without a hitch. The following are some tips to help ensure your only worries are about having enough food for your guests and how good you’ll look in that New Year’s party hat.

New Year’s Eve Safety Tips:

• Use fake candles. Clumsy, inebriated guests and fire don’t mix. Create ambient lighting with battery-operated candles that can be easily found in most one-stop-shops.
• Make sure fireplaces and fire pits have screens and guest seating is a safe distance away from the flames. Tipsy guests and children fall out of chairs easily and it’s to ones advantage to make sure they do not fall into a fire pit or on to a fireplace. Keep the supplies for these items out of the reach of guests, with the exception of a fire extinguisher, that unrealistically think they can tend to a fire after having a few drinks.
• Place space heaters, if being used, a safe distance away from guests, children, and pets. A jacket or purse accidentally tossed onto a heater can quickly make a party go south.
• If one has fireworks at their party, make it a firm rule that only sober guests are handling them and the others are a safe distance away. Keep a bucket of water close by to place the used fireworks in. Double check with the local law enforcement or fire department to make sure it’s okay to set fireworks off.

When hosting a party, it is one’s responsibility to ensure the safety of their guests. Common sense and logic can help ensure it is the bubbly that’s flowing, not the fire hoses.

Learn more about safe party planning.