The holidays are supposed to feel lighter. In a lot of workplaces, they do not. December can be a perfect storm of shorter daylight, nasty roads, rushed schedules, reduced staffing, end-of-year targets, and a calendar full of “just one quick thing” jobs that somehow turn into incidents.
If you are working through Christmas and New Year’s, the goal is not to turn the season into a safety lecture. It is to recognize what changes in December and manage it on purpose. Most holiday incidents are not exotic. They are the basics showing up harder: fatigue, distraction, slips, driving risk, cold exposure, and small decisions that stack up.
If you’re a manager, supervisor, or business owner reading this, please consider sharing it with your staff. They might not read it today, but it can still be timely—an easy New Year reset that helps people refocus on why working safely matters.
Holiday work often runs on a different operating model than the rest of the year. People are away. Coverage plans are thinner. Supervisors are juggling approvals, call-ins, and last-minute customer pressure. Temporary workers may be filling gaps, and experienced workers may be doing unfamiliar tasks because “someone has to.”
This is where risk creeps in. Not because workers suddenly stop caring, but because the system shifts. When the system shifts, your controls have to shift with it. Winter changes conditions, and work planning needs to change accordingly. If you treat December like “business as usual,” you are basically betting against reality.
One simple leadership move that helps right away is to ask, out loud, what is different this week. Not in a big meeting. Just in pre-shift check-ins. Different staffing, different hours, different access to maintenance, different roads, different timelines, different customer demands. Once you name the differences, it becomes easier to decide which controls need tightening.
Holiday fatigue is not just “feeling tired.” It is reduced alertness, slower reaction time, shorter patience, and more risk-taking. It shows up after late nights, long commutes, overtime, disrupted routines, and stress. And it increases the odds of errors in driving, equipment operation, lifting, and even basic decision-making.
Fatigue is tricky because people normalize it. They think it is part of December. The problem is that fatigue quietly turns minor hazards into major outcomes. A small slip becomes a hard fall. A rushed lift becomes a back injury. A “quick run” to the next site becomes a collision.
If you want fatigue controls that actually work in real workplaces, keep them simple and repeatable:
During the holidays, supervisors also need permission to slow things down. If the culture says “production first, always,” then the message workers hear is that fatigue is their personal problem. In December, that approach fails fast.
If you have workers driving for work, driving is part of your hazard profile. Even if they are “just commuting,” fatigue and road conditions still affect whether they show up safe and ready. And in the holidays, more people are driving at odd hours, in poor visibility, on compromised roads, and sometimes with added distraction.
Winter driving safety is basic, but it is not optional. Slow down for conditions. Increase following distance. Expect black ice at intersections, bridges, and shaded areas. Accept that the trip takes longer. If your schedule does not allow for safe winter driving, your schedule is the hazard.
A December driving checklist that does not feel like corporate fluff:
One of the strongest safety messages you can send in December is this: no one gets disciplined for delaying a job because the roads are unsafe. That single statement eliminates a lot of silent risk-taking.
Cold exposure is not just discomfort. It is a performance issue and a health issue. Hands get clumsy. Concentration drops. People rush because they want to get it over with. Small mistakes happen. In severe conditions, you are into cold stress injuries, frostbite risk, and dangerous decision-making.
If you have people outside for deliveries, inspections, construction, property maintenance, security patrols, field service, or traffic control, you need a winter routine that is more than “dress warm.”
Good winter controls look like planning, not heroics:
The real goal is to keep workers functional. If they cannot feel their hands, they cannot control tools properly. If they are shivering hard, they are not thinking clearly. Cold is one of those hazards that looks manageable until it suddenly is not.
Most workplaces see a spike in slip and trip potential in December. Snow gets tracked in. Entry mats curl. Floors get wet. Lighting is poor in parking areas. People carry boxes, gifts, or materials that block their view. Contractors move in and out, bringing extra clutter and temporary cords.
Slip and trip prevention is not complicated, but it requires consistency. If you let the basics drift for two weeks because “everyone’s busy,” you are basically creating a predictable injury window.
Make it harder to slip by design:
Here is a blunt truth: most winter slip injuries are not caused by the first person who slips. They are caused by the workplace that did not control the conditions before someone had to find out the hard way.
Seasonal set-ups are notorious for introducing hazards that are not in your baseline hazard assessment. Extension cords across walkways, overloaded power bars, temporary lights, space heaters, and combustible storage around electrical sources are the usual suspects.
The simple rule that prevents most holiday set-up problems is this: nothing seasonal is allowed to block exits, fire equipment, electrical panels, or aisles, and nothing seasonal is allowed to create a trip hazard. If the décor cannot meet those rules, it does not go up.
Other practical controls that keep you out of trouble:
This is also a great time to remind people that good housekeeping is fire prevention. Cardboard, packaging, and seasonal storage piled in the wrong place is not just messy, it can be dangerous.
Workplaces tend to think about impairment only when there is a visible issue. During the holidays, impairment risk increases because social drinking goes up, sleep goes down, and some people rely more heavily on medication to cope with stress, pain, or exhaustion.
Fit for work is the standard, and impairment is broader than alcohol. It can include fatigue, medication side effects, and other factors that reduce alertness and safe performance.
For employers, this is the season to tighten the basics:
This is not about policing people. It is about preventing the predictable outcome of pretending impairment is rare in December.
For some workers, December is great. For others, it is grief, loneliness, financial strain, or family conflict. Even high performers can feel frayed. That matters because stress affects sleep, attention, and judgment, and it also increases conflict at work when patience is low.
A practical way to manage psychosocial risk in December is to focus on a few leadership basics that cost nothing:
Set realistic priorities. Make it clear what can wait until January. Encourage people to ask for help early. Keep check-ins short and normal, focused on workload and safety rather than performance pressure. When you do that, you reduce mistakes and you reduce blow-ups.
This is also where respectful workplace behaviour matters. The holidays can bring more sarcasm, more short tempers, and more “jokes” that land badly. If leaders model respect, the temperature drops fast.
Holiday food at work is part of culture, and it can be handled safely without being weird about it. The main risks are time and temperature control, cross-contamination, and crowded fridges.
A simple approach that works:
This is one of those areas where a little structure prevents a lot of “we thought it would be fine.”
The holiday season is a great time for a quick, practical safety reset that carries into January. You do not need a full program rebuild. You need targeted actions that match what actually changes in December.
Calgary Safety Consultants can support you with focused, real-world work like:
If you want help tightening controls without burying your team in paperwork, visit calgarysafetyconsultants.ca and reach out. A small amount of focused effort now prevents a lot of preventable incidents later.
Holiday safety is not about perfect behaviour. It is about acknowledging reality. People are stretched, conditions are harder, and routines get messy. The best workplaces do not shame workers for being human in December. They build slightly stronger systems for a few weeks: clearer priorities, better housekeeping, more realistic driving expectations, and supervisors who pay attention to fatigue and stress before something goes wrong.
If you do those basics well, you get the best version of the season at work. People go home in one piece, morale stays intact, and you start January without injuries, investigations, and regret.
Connect with us here and let us help you improve your OH&S practices.
The most common risks include toxic gases, low oxygen levels, engulfment, fire/explosion hazards, heat stress, and physical injuries due to restricted movement.
Focus on realistic scheduling, task planning (higher-risk tasks earlier in shifts), short micro-breaks for safety-critical work, and supervisor check-ins that catch fatigue before it turns into an incident.
At minimum: warm blanket, flashlight, phone charger, ice scraper, shovel, traction aid (sand/kitty litter), basic first aid supplies, and high-visibility items. Tailor it to your operation and travel distances.
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Calgary Safety Consultants delivers game-changing COR Audits and OH&S consulting designed to keep your business safe, compliant, and accident-free. With 30+ years of expertise in high-risk industries like oil & gas, construction, and manufacturing, we understand the unique challenges you face. We offer tailored safety solutions that not only meet regulatory standards but also reduce operational risks and protect your workforce. From conducting thorough safety audits to implementing comprehensive safety management systems, we ensure your team is fully supported. Our hands-on, collaborative approach means we're with you every step of the way, helping you achieve a safer, more efficient workplace. Let us handle the heavy lifting so your team stays protected, and your business thrives!
