With more and more stories and myths surrounding health and safety at Christmas, it can be difficult for Employers to know what precautions are necessary to protect their workforce and premises.

Failure to conduct basic preventative safety measures before shutting down for Christmas could potentially be disastrous for your business and Workforce.

It is essential to maintain a certain amount of heat at business premises and heating systems should not be switched off, even when the premises are empty.  This is really the key to avoiding problems such as burst pipes and the subsequent water damage. When setting heating controls for the shutdown period, you need to ensure that the heating will operate sufficiently; the loss of heat from people, machinery and equipment need to be taken into account particularly when determining the level of heating required.

Special attention also needs to be given to businesses with automatic sprinkler systems in place and it is important that alternate wet and dry systems are charged with air during the winter months. 

It is important to maintain good housekeeping when the premises are closed for the holidays as staff may be required to return to the building in an emergency. All work areas should be kept tidy and goods stored safely. Stairways and exits/entrances should not be obstructed and walkways should be checked to ensure there are no trailing cables or obstructions creating a hazard to people entering the premises.

You should ensure, wherever possible that a staff member in a senior position and ideally close to the premises hold a key to the building to deal with any emergencies which arise, however they should not enter the premises alone, lone working should be avoided as far as is reasonably practicable. If possible an external alarm company should be called to respond to an emergency situation and report back to the key holder without requiring them to enter the building.