Christmas is generally a time of peace, goodwill and impromptu visits to A&E. Each Christmas more than 80,000 people a year need hospital treatment for injuries such as falls, cuts and burns. I know in my family we can hardly make it through to New Year without a visit to the local Walk-in Centre or A&E; although with a bit of luck and a lot of care we may yet avoid being patched up by the NHS again this year.

Thankfully the NHS Choices website has lots of good advice for staying safe over the festive period; from taking extra care in the kitchen, reducing the hazards of fairy lights and candles; as well as suggestions for avoiding death by Christmas decorations.

I stumbled across this fun festive infographic giving elf and safety advice to Santa, which gives pretty decent advice for humans too. If working at height wear appropriate safety gear; don’t drink and drive (a sleigh); remove trip hazards and be wary of naked flames. It all seems very sensible to me.

When you think about it, Santa must be having an administrative nightmare up in the North Pole. What with being responsible for all of those busy Elves and their elf and safety (ho-ho); not to mention all the paperwork and responsibilities involved in being CEO of North Pole Enterprises inc. Santa has a really hard job, it makes you wonder how he manages to fit it all in.

A lot of the more unusual festive mishaps find their way onto the RoSPA lists of accidents. Some of the mishaps can make for amusing reading, unless of course you have been the victim of a festive accident yourself.

Of course being in an accident at any time of year isn’t a laughing matter. It’s best to try and take a bit of extra care; especially at Christmas time when we’re all a bit tired and many of us will have had a festive drink or two. Our usual levels of care and caution are less than they normally are, so do take care this Christmas. I don’t want to see you down at A&E too!