Workplace Accidents at Christmas: What Actually Goes Wrong

Nothing new goes wrong at Christmas — the usual hazards just meet peak workload, temporary staff and bad weather in the same fortnight.

Updated 20 September 2026 8 min read By The Training Co.

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Quick answer

The workplace injuries that spike around Christmas are ordinary ones made worse by seasonal conditions: slips and trips (already 30% of RIDDOR-reported non-fatal injuries, and worse on wet and icy surfaces), manual handling during peak stock and delivery periods, burns and fire from decorations, candles and overloaded sockets, driving incidents in dark and icy conditions, and injuries involving seasonal staff who have had the shortest induction of the year. Two things also carry into January: the work Christmas party is usually still work, and first aid cover thins out exactly when the site is busiest.

Nothing genuinely new goes wrong at Christmas. What happens is that the usual hazards meet peak workload, temporary staff, bad weather, dark afternoons and a distracted workforce — all in the same fortnight.

What actually rises, and what to do

Risk	Why it rises at Christmas	The control
Slips and trips	Wet entrances, ice, dark car parks, stock in corridors	Grit before frost; long matting; clear walkways; fix lighting
Manual handling	Peak volumes, heavier deliveries, time pressure	Enough trolleys; sensible racking; do not let people carry more per trip
Fire	Decorations, lights, candles, overloaded sockets	Keep exits clear; no wedged fire doors; no daisy-chained extensions
Driving	Dark, wet, icy, busier roads and tighter schedules	More time; vehicle checks; agreed cancellation triggers
Seasonal staff	Shortest induction of the year, at the busiest time	Proper induction before the first shift
First aid gaps	First aiders on leave while the site is busiest	Check the rota against your first aider list in November
Stress	Deadlines, peak trading, short staffing, financial pressure	It is a risk you are required to assess — so assess it

1. Slips and trips

Already the biggest category, and December stacks the odds: wet floors from rain and snow walked in at the entrance, dark car parks, ice, and corridors full of stock and deliveries.

Grit ahead of forecast frost, keep entrance matting long enough to dry several footsteps and change it when it saturates, clear deliveries out of walkways rather than “just for today”, and fix the outdoor lighting before the clocks change. Detail: preventing slips in wet and icy weather.

2. Manual handling

Handling, lifting and carrying accounts for 17% of reported non-fatal injuries, and this is the time of year when volumes peak. More stock, heavier deliveries, more pressure to move things quickly, often by people who started three weeks ago.

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 ask you to avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable, assess what cannot be avoided, and reduce the risk. In practice at Christmas that means:

Enough trolleys and pallet trucks, actually available rather than in the other warehouse
Heavy items stored at waist height, not at floor level or above shoulder
Deliveries broken down rather than carried whole
Resisting the temptation to let people carry more per trip because the queue is building
Two-person lifts genuinely being two-person lifts

3. Seasonal and temporary staff

Temporary staff arrive at the busiest point of the year, when there is least time to induct them properly. That combination — unfamiliar people, unfamiliar equipment, peak pressure — is behind a large share of seasonal injuries.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require adequate health and safety training on recruitment. Temporary and agency workers are not an exception. At minimum they need to know, before their first shift:

The hazards they will actually encounter
How to use any equipment they will be using
Emergency procedures and where the exits are
Who the first aiders are and where the kit is
How to report a problem — and that they will not be penalised for doing so

That last point matters more than the others. A temporary worker three days into a six-week contract will not raise a concern unless you have made it explicitly safe to.

4. Fire, decorations and electrics

Do not block escape routes with trees, displays or stock — the easiest and most common Christmas breach.
Fire doors stay closed. Not wedged open with a box of tinsel.
Check decorative lights for damaged cables, and switch them off overnight.
Do not daisy-chain extension leads. Every year, somewhere, an overloaded socket starts a fire.
Candles. Most workplaces should simply say no.
Decorations near heat sources — heaters, lights, catering equipment — are a genuine ignition risk.
Test alarms and confirm extinguishers have been serviced before the season, not in January.
Plan where decorations go before they go up, which is easier than taking them down again.

5. Driving

Darker, wetter, icier, busier roads, with tighter delivery schedules. Build in more time, check tyres and lights, agree in advance when journeys get postponed, and make sure drivers know a decision not to travel will be supported.

Anyone driving the morning after a work event needs to think hard about whether they are still over the limit — alcohol clears more slowly than most people assume, and a late finish plus an early start is the classic combination.

6. The Christmas party

Worth being clear-eyed about, because it catches employers out. A work-organised social event is generally still treated as an extension of the workplace for conduct purposes, and your duty of care does not stop at the door of the venue.

Remind people of the standards expected beforehand — briefly, without lecturing.
Make sure there is a plan for getting home: taxi numbers, transport, and nobody walking back alone.
Someone should stay reasonably sober and be the person to go to.
Think about who might feel excluded — non-drinkers, people with caring responsibilities, anyone whose religion or health makes the standard format awkward.
Food safety at the venue matters when the whole team eats the same meal. Check the venue’s food hygiene rating and ask about allergens in advance — not while serving.
Be clear about the next working day. Managing expectations beforehand avoids a difficult conversation afterwards.

7. First aid cover over the holidays

This is the one most often missed. Your first aid provision was calculated for a normal week. Over the holiday period, some sites are busier than ever while half the trained first aiders are on leave.

Check the rota against your first aider list before December. If the answer is “there is one, and she is off between Christmas and New Year”, that is a gap worth closing now. See how many first aiders does my workplace need?

While you are at it, check the kit is stocked and that nobody’s certificate expires quietly over the break — certificates last three years.

8. Stress

Deadlines before the shutdown, peak trading, short staffing and financial and family pressure all land in the same month. Work-related stress is a risk employers are required to assess under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and December is when it bites.

Sometimes the useful intervention is simply a manager asking how someone is and having somewhere to point them. See is mental health first aid a legal requirement? for what the duty actually is, and what the options are.

9. Lone working and cash

Late closes, dark car parks and more cash on the premises. Retail and hospitality see a genuine rise in the risk of violence and aggression at this time of year, and acts of violence already account for 10% of reported non-fatal injuries. Check the closing-up arrangements, the lighting, and whether anyone is doing a cash run alone in the dark.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the most common workplace accidents at Christmas?

The same ones as the rest of the year, made worse by seasonal conditions — slips and trips on wet and icy surfaces, manual handling injuries during peak stock periods, burns and fire risks from decorations and overloaded sockets, and driving incidents in dark and icy conditions.

Is the work Christmas party covered by employment rules?

A work-organised social event is generally treated as an extension of the workplace for conduct purposes, and the employer’s duty of care does not stop at the venue door. Setting expectations beforehand and planning how people get home are both sensible.

Do temporary Christmas staff need health and safety training?

Yes. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require adequate health and safety training on recruitment, and that applies to temporary, seasonal and agency workers before their first shift.

Can we block a fire exit with a Christmas tree?

No. Escape routes must be kept clear, and obstructed exits and wedged-open fire doors are among the most common seasonal fire safety failings. Plan where decorations go before they go up.

What happens if our first aiders are on leave over Christmas?

Your first aid provision has to be adequate when people are actually at work, so holiday leave is one of the things the needs assessment should account for. If cover disappears over the holiday period, train more people or adjust the rota.

Who is responsible if someone is injured at the work party?

It depends on the circumstances, but an employer’s duty of care extends to work-organised events. Practical steps — a plan for getting people home, someone staying sober, checking the venue’s food hygiene rating and allergens — are both sensible and protective.

Are people still over the limit the morning after a party?

Often, yes. Alcohol clears more slowly than most people assume, and a late finish followed by an early start is the classic combination. Anyone driving for work the next morning should think about it honestly, and employers should make it easy to say no.

Does violence at work increase at Christmas?

Retail and hospitality typically see more aggression during the peak season, with later closes, more cash on site and dark car parks. Acts of violence already account for 10% of RIDDOR-reported non-fatal injuries, so closing-up arrangements and lone working are worth reviewing before December.

Have a good one

If training needs sorting before the season, call 0845 838 4643 or use the enquiry form on this page.

Most of these are ordinary workplace risks with tinsel on. The assessment method behind them is in workplace risk assessment, our health and safety courses cover it in depth, and workplace first aid requirements covers what you must provide when something does happen.

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