Tips for staying safe at home in December

While you enjoy the festive period away from work, we also want to make sure you are safe at home. Here are some tips on how to stay safe at home over the festive period, particularly with mains-powered tech, and when running multiple cooking appliances:

• Keep candles away from Christmas trees, curtains or any other combustible or flammable materials.
• Always switch your christmas lights off before going to bed.
• Don’t attach decorations to lights or heaters where they can overheat.
• Don’t leave cooking unattended. Make sure you remove cooking food from the hob, oven, or grill.
• Don’t overload plug sockets and be careful with charging electrical devices.

Consider these tips when preparing for hosting friends and family, particularly when buying devices for events:

• Test your smoke alarms and make sure they are working.  Fit a heat alarm in the kitchen – this will detect an increase in temperature caused by fire but not be set off by cooking fumes.
• Check your Christmas tree lights conform to safety standards.
• Make sure new electrical appliances have a British or European safety mark when you buy them.

On behalf of the Fire Safety team, we wish you a happy, healthy, and fire-safe Christmas and New Year.

Stay safe and see you in 2026. UCL's winter closure period ends on Monday 5 January.