Pumpkin Carving Safety

 

Pumpkin Carving Safety

 

Well, it’s that time of year. A time to decorate for the fall, especially time to decorate for the Halloween holiday. Every year hundreds of adults & children end up in the emergency room for injuries sustained while carving Jack-O-Lanterns. Here are some tips to help keep you safe while preparing those pumpkins for their “ghoulish” facades from Consumer Reports:

• Use the right tools – there are tool kits out there that are made specifically for carving pumpkins & gourds. If you plan on carving pumpkins every year, invest in a decent set of tools. The included tools are saws (for sawing the tough rinds), pokers, scrapers, & other tools that are smaller and easier to control.
• Carve before cutting the top – For the most part pumpkins are hollow (aside from the seeds/goop inside) so carving them without the top cut off is easy. A hand surgeon explains our tendency to hold the pumpkin from the inside as we carve exposes us to greater risk of injury.
• Taking precautions – carving a pumpkin should be a fun time and not a rush-job. Make sure your working area is clean/dry/well-lit and work slowly to avoid injury.
• Adults supervision – The temptation is there to allow kids under the age of 14 carve their own pumpkins. This isn’t recommended, but if you choose to – DON’T leave them unattended while they carve and use tools suited for their hands.
• First aid is foremost – knowing the basics of first aid (such as stopping bleeding) is important when an accident does occur while carving pumpkins.

 

Being safe & having fun during Halloween doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. You CAN have fun while being safe!

 

Contact Us!

At Marsilje & Vander Plow Insurance Agency, we can work with you to make sure you’ve got the coverage you need, while at the same time using all possible credits and discounts to make that coverage affordable. Just give us a call at 616-396-1497 or send us a note at marsiljeins@gmail.com. We want to help you meet your goals, and make sure what’s important to you is protected!