LUBBOCK, TX -- (Marketwire) -- 11/15/12 -- According to the Home Safety Council, four out of five U.S. households plan to use ladders around their homes to prepare for the holiday season. Annually, during the two months surrounding the holiday season, more than 14,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms due to injuries related to holiday decorating.

Christmas Decor franchise owners provide professional holiday and event decorating services, eliminating unnecessary accidents. Their designers are trained to execute lighting displays on high roofs, ladders, and in tricky situations. Christmas Decor installation crews are professionally trained and use the utmost of care when decorating a client's home, without damaging moldings, roofing, or architectural elements.

"Homeowners are simply not following proper safety practices," said Blake Smith, President of Christmas Decor. "These unsafe practices can lead to major injury and even death, turning the holidays from a time of celebration into a time of tragedy."

Christmas Decor always recommends using a professional for holiday decorating because of injuries due to falling and electrocution but provides the following tips to improve safe practices for homeowners insistent on doing it themselves;

• Use proper climbing equipment - 82 percent of consumers reported climbing on chairs, counters, shelves and other pieces of furniture when decorating for the holidays. Invest in a sturdy and reliable ladder that can adapt to different heights according to your needs.
  
  
• Practice safe techniques - Secure ladders on even ground, don't stand on the top two steps of a ladder, and don't reach farther than you should when decorating around windows.
  
  
• Aluminum and electricity don't mix - 32 percent of consumers admit to stringing lights while they are plugged in. If your ladder is aluminum it will conduct electricity and an error can cause electrocution.
  
  
• Alcohol and sunlight - Alcohol consumption when climbing ladders can lead to injury and death. Also, decorate when the sun is up, decorating at night is also a factor in these injuries.
  
  

"Hopefully homeowners will leave it to the pros," added Smith. "If not, we recommend these tips to help keep homeowners safe and healthy for the holiday season."

For more information about Christmas Decor, please visit www.christmasdecor.net or call (800) 687-9551.

About Christmas Decor
Since its inception in 1986, Christmas Decor has risen to become the premier holiday lighting and decorating company in North America. The Texas-based company was founded by Blake Smith as an off-season supplement to his landscape business and as a method to provide year-round work for employees. Christmas Decor quickly emerged as a viable business opportunity and today, operates in more than 350 markets in 48 states and Canada. Plans are underway to open locations in more than 100 new markets through franchise expansion in select communities around the country. Christmas Decor is highly revered in its field and has received consistent recognition for its efforts; some highlights include having been named one of a Top Ten Home Improvement Franchises by Entrepreneur Magazine and AOL Small Business. Christmas Decor's parent company, The Decor Group, also offers the Nite Time Decor franchise opportunity, a growing 42-unit concept specializing in architectural and landscape lighting services. For more information, visit www.christmasdecor.net.