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IDHS > About IDHS > Get Prepared > Fall Health and Safety Fall Health and Safety

Fall Health & Safety Fact Sheet

Yard Work

  • Prevent back injuries when raking leaves by standing upright and pulling from your arms and legs while raking.
  • Avoid overfilling leaf bags, and bend at the knee using your legs for support when lifting them.
  • When using a leaf blower, wear appropriate clothing, eye protection and work boots to shield yourself and prevent injury.
  • Never allow children to play in leaf piles near the street. Piles of leaves and other vegetative debris can obstruct a motorist’s view.
  • When cleaning gutters from a ladder, always use a sturdy ladder with a small shelf strong enough to hold a five-gallon bucket, and let someone know where you will be working.

Leaf Burning

  • Know and follow any local ordinances or restrictions on open burning.
  • Check the weather forecast. Weather fluctuations, such as sudden gusts of wind, could cause burning debris to spark a wildfire.
  • Start the fire with dry twigs and small sticks. Never use flammable liquids to ignite or keep the fire burning.
  • Keep the fire in a contained unit such as a burn barrel.
  • Have a fire extinguisher on hand for emergencies and teach children how to use it.

Cooking

  • Unattended cooking is the leading cause of kitchen fires, so whether baking pumpkin pie, canning, or making caramel apples this fall, it’s important to stay near the kitchen while cooking is in process.
  • Keep anything that can catch fire, oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains, away from the stovetop.
  • Smother small grease fires by sliding a lid over the pan and turning off the stove. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled.
  • To suppress an oven fire simply turn off the heat and keep the door closed.

Decorating

  • Dried flowers, cornstalks and crepe paper are highly flammable. Keep these and other decorations well away from all open flames and heat sources, including light bulbs, candles and heaters.
  • Consider using a flashlight or glow stick instead of a candle to light your pumpkin if it is displayed near dry foliage or other flammable decorations.
  • Candlelit pumpkins or jack-o-lanterns should be kept away from landings and doorsteps where costumes could brush against the flame.
  • Indoor jack-o-lanterns should be placed on a sturdy table, away from curtains, decorations and other furnishings that could be ignited.
  • Never leave a candlelit pumpkin or jack-o-lantern anywhere unattended.

Pumpkin Carving

  • Small children should never carve pumpkins.
  • Children can draw a face with markers. Then, have an adult do the carving.
  • Older children should be allowed to use knives only with adult supervision.