Thanksgiving Safety Tips

Thanksgiving is just about here, and with it, millions of Americans will be traveling across the country to celebrate with loved ones and friends. 

 Cranberry sauce, stuffing, and turkey might be on the agenda, but there is one thing that isn’t good on any Thanksgiving menu: unforeseen accidents. 

Keep your family safe with these Thanksgiving safety tips you might have never thought of. 

Travel

Millions of people will travel across the country to visit loved ones and relatives for the Thanksgiving holiday this year. And the vast majority of them will travel by car. Since motor vehicle accidents have the highest probability of fatalities, it is particularly important to be aware of driving safety. 

One contributor to the frighteningly high rate of car accidents on Thanksgiving might be, in part, the fact that alcohol is a huge part of just about any Thanksgiving family gathering. Wine is practically as popular a side dish as stuffing itself. A whopping 63% of Americans plan on opening up a bottle of their favorite vino to go with their feast! Add unpredictable weather conditions, and it is no wonder car accidents are considered one of the Thanksgiving holiday’s top hazards!

But while air travel is considered safer, it is not without its concerns. Now more than ever, sitting in confined spaces where other people’s germs are in remarkably close proximity might not be such an appealing proposition. While following all the airline rules is always a must, we would add another pro tip for keeping your hands and belongings just a bit cleaner:add a bit of our Gription® Roll to your belongings, from suitcase handles to cell phones to baby carriers. Not only will it make lugging everything around through seemingly endless airports more comfortable, but the antimicrobial nature of the tape will help keep things just a bit cleaner as well! 

Not only will it make rolling your luggage through seemingly endless airports more comfortable, but the antimicrobial nature of the tape will help keep things just a bit cleaner as well! 

For Fido and Fluffy

Indulging in a Thanksgiving feast is strongly encouraged -- but it is best to keep all those culinary delights confined to the humans sitting at your festive family table, far away from your beloved four-legged friend. While it might be tempting to let Fido help with cleaning up that massive pile of dinner plates, it can be a proposition for a sick pet. 

Chocolate is an obvious no-go, but even other desserts can be terrible for pets. They can contain xylitol and other artificial ingredients that simply aren’t good for them. Even turkey, which you might consider harmless, can cause pancreatitis for some pets (even in small amounts).

If you want your pet to participate in the festivities, give them a special Thanksgiving treat made especially for them, one that is sure not to give them food poisoning.   

Thanksgiving Safety Tips For Visitors

If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner, odds are there might be a grandma and grandpa or two that will be part of your festivities. And with older visitors come special preparations. 

You will want to think about the most common concerns for older visitors, including slip and fall accidents, as well as tripping hazards. For many older adults, stairs can be a tricky proposition. One thing that can be helpful is to make sure that commonly used walkways are free of electrical cords and any other obstructions that might cause trips and falls. 

And if you have a valuable vase sitting on a hallway table? It might be best to remove it. It will make your loved one feel less stressed walking up and down hallways (nobody likes to be the one to break a family heirloom!). Also, it will give them more furniture to lean on and sturdy surfaces to hold on to, if needed, without concern. 

Adding a bit of Gription® to things like lamp and light switches and doorknobs can also be a great way to make them more comfortable. And since our Gription® Roll is antimicrobial, it will also help keep commonly used surfaces in your living space a bit more germ-free. 

In The Kitchen

We’ve covered a lot of kitchen safety tips in a previous blog, but Thanksgiving offers its own entirely new list of considerations. 

As tempting as it might be to abandon the turkey to roast in the oven without supervision, stay in your home, and check on your turkey frequently. There’s a reason Thanksgiving is the number one holiday in the USA for kitchen fires. 

Are you using a turkey fryer this year? Be especially careful.  According to the National Fire Protection Association, the use of a turkey fryer is the cause of approximately 5 deaths, 50 injuries, and the destruction of 900 homes, and more than 15 million dollars in property damage every year.

And as much as kids might want to be a part of the festivities in the kitchen, it’s best to keep them at a safe distance. With hot sauces and pots and pans and sharp knives abounding, cuts and burns are a common reason for visits to the hospital. This is something nobody wants to add to their holiday memory book. 

Consider giving your kiddos a helpful activity to do, such as creating crafts for centerpieces. They can easily stay entertained for hours in another room, far away from the kitchen’s hot surfaces and sharp blades. 

Thanksgiving Safety Tips To Keep Your Holiday Feast Festive, Not Frightening

That’s our tips for a Thanksgiving full of turkey, good food, and delightfully free from unnecessary accidents. Most of these suggestions are common sense, but it is always good to have a bit of a reminder! 

And if you want to grab a roll of our Gription® Roll, you can snag one here. Be sure to watch for sales as we head into the holiday season. We’re going to be running a lot of flash sales! 

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