(NAPSA)—Decorating your homecan brighten the holiday season, but misusing or using damaged decorations and otherelectrical products might lead to injuries or evenfires. The safety experts at Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) encourage you to refer to this handy checklist when decorating your homethis holiday season. YES NO O O Does yourlive tree have fresh, green needles? Dry trees increase your risk offire. Remember to keep your tree watered at all times. Oo 6OF Is yourtree at least three feet from fireplaces, radiators, space heaters, heat- ing vents and other sources of heat? Is it blocking an exit? O OO Do you use light strings that bear the UL Mark? The familiar UL Mark on a product means that UL engineers have tested samples of the product for risk of fire, electric shock and other hazards. Use light strings with UL’s green holographic label indoors; use light strings with UL's red holographic label either indoorsor outdoors. oO O Before plugging in any electrical decoration, do you carefully inspect it? Cracked sockets, frayed, loose or bare wires, and loose connections may cause serious electric shock or start a fire. Replace damaged items with new decorations. O O Do you keep light strings and other electrical decorations away from children’s reach? Electrical decorations aren’t toys and could produce a deadly electric shock or cause a fire if misused. Make sure you keep light strings away from curiouspets as well. O OO Do you check for red or green UL labels on your light strings? The green holographic UL Mark meansthe light strings should only be used indoors. The red holographic UL Mark indicates the light strings can be used both inside and out—andcan withstand conditions related to outdoor use. O O Do you turn off all electrical light strings and decorations before leaving home or going to bed? Never leave light strings and otherelectrical decorations operating unattended. If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, congratulations!—you’re on your way toa safe holiday season. For more safety information, visit UL’s Web site at www.ul.com. Underwriters Laboratories Ine. (UL) is an independent, not-forprofit product safety certification organization that has been testing products for more than 109 years. UL tests more than 18,000 differ- ent types of products annually, and more than 17 billion UL Marks appear on products each year. Worldwide, UL’s family of companies and its network of service providers include 50 testing and certification facilities.
