Halloween Safety Tips

The Fall season is here, and Halloween is just days away. 2020 has certainly been an interesting year, particularly as we have all worked to navigate the effects of COVID-19. As your family approaches Halloween this year, you may decide to do things a little bit differently. Perhaps you will not be going door to door or to parking lot trick or treat sessions. Maybe you will be incorporating costumes with masks and hand sanitizer.

Regardless of how you approach this Halloween, our Phoenix personal injury lawyers want to offer some safety tips. Some of the topics we will cover will seem mundane and traditional to most Halloweens, but others are going to be specific to this global pandemic year we are still facing.

COVID-19 is still here

There is no denying that we all need to be aware of the risks posed by COVID-19 as we consider our Halloween plans this year. If you decide to take your children trick or treating, whether door to door or through some other event where there will be a gathering of people, you need to remember to keep CDC recommendations in mind. You should wear a mask anytime you will be in close vicinity with others and practice social distancing. Additionally, you need to consider sanitizing the outside wrappers of candy that your children receive.

Indoor gatherings generally pose more risk than outdoor gatherings when it comes to spreading COVID-19. You should keep your Halloween gatherings outdoors this year.

Keep the costumes safe

The American Academy for Pediatrics has specific recommendations about Halloween costumes. Specifically, the organization says that:

• All costumes, accessories, and wigs should be fire-resistant.
• All costumes and candy bags should have reflective tape fastened to them if children are out after dark.
• Halloween makeup needs to be non-toxic and should be tested in a small area first to ensure the child is not allergic.
• All makeup needs to be removed before a child goes to bed to prevent eye and skin irritation.

Safety in the streets

Unfortunately, children are twice as likely to be struck and killed by a vehicle on Halloween than any other day of the year. Parents and guardians must be extra vigilant on Halloween.

• A responsible adult must accompany children as they go about their neighborhood rounds.
• If older children are going alone, plan and review their route beforehand.
• Consider giving older children that are trick or treating a cell phone with GPS tracking software so you can monitor their location.
• Make sure your children know to never enter a stranger’s vehicle or home.
• Tell your children not to eat any treats until they return home.

Safety at home

When your children have returned home after trick or treating, you need to look through every piece of candy they have received. If you see anything that is unwrapped or that looks like it has been tampered with, throw it away immediately.

As always, and as hard as it may be to do, try not to let your children eat too much candy on Halloween night. We’d also like to stress that parents should avoid eating too much candy as well – or at least wait until your children go to sleep before reading their candy bag.

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