Pumpkin patches are overflowing and are ready to be taken home to be carved and displayed for Halloween. Donning the perfect costume and stocking up on ghoulish treats are also part of the All Hallows’ Eve traditions, but so is setting up scary displays with ghosts, goblins and scarecrows.

CSA International, a leading provider of product testing and certification services, offers the following tips to help ensure your eve is spooky, yet safe:

• When purchasing light strings, animatronics, strobe and black lights, fog machines, or extension cords look for the mark from an accredited certification organization, such as CSA International. The CSA mark provides assurance that products are tested and certified to the applicable standards for safety and performance.
• Don’t overload extension cords. Use heavy duty extension cords for high wattage decorations, like fog machines and large electronically-animated displays. Ensure lights and electrical decorations are marked for ‘outdoor use’.
• Before working with outdoor wiring, turn off the electricity to the supply outlet and unplug the connection.
• Carefully inspect each electrical decoration. Cracked or frayed sockets, loose or bare wires, and loose connections may provide a shock or fire hazard. If found, discard damaged light sets and replace damaged power cords.
• When hanging lights outdoors, keep electrical connectors above ground, out of water, and away from metal eavestroughs.
• Use insulated fasteners rather than metal nails or tacks to hold light strings in place.
• When decorating your home, be extra careful using candles. Use flashlights or battery-operated candles when lighting pumpkins, displays and walkways. Do not use open flames near combustible materials.
• Whenever possible, connect all outdoor lighting into receptacles protected by weatherproof ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI). These can provide protection from electric shock by sensing ground leakage and cutting electrical power

About CSA International

CSA International is a provider of product testing and certification services for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, gas and a variety of other products. Recognized in the U.S., Canada and around the world, CSA International certification marks appear on billions of products worldwide. CSA International is a division of CSA Group, which also includes CSA Standards, a leading solutions based standards organization, providing standards development, application products, training and advisory services; and OnSpeX, a provider of consumer product evaluation, inspection and advisory services for retailers and manufacturers. For more information, visit www.csa-international.org

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Contact

Anthony Toderian
Manager, Corporate Affairs
CSA Group
416-747-2620
[email protected]