 Hello, this is Watika Smith, Safety Compliance Manager with the Safety and Risk Management Department for the City of Columbia. I'm here today to discuss your monthly safety message. Your monthly safety message for this topic for this month is going to be on holiday safety. Keep in mind that you need to maintain social distance between you, your loved ones, even your family just to be on the safe side. And during that time, there's a lot of traveling going on. The traveling going on, be mindful that you need to make sure that you have checked your vehicle, done your inspections, that you have also had enough sleep where you can be maintained, be aware, and always have an emergency plan for your traveling. Every one in your household needs to know that they need to know what to do in case you have an emergency. So at this time, I will turn it over to Aster Mietje's Rump, Safety Director for the Safety and Risk Management for the City of Columbia. And by the way, happy holidays. Hello. My name is Temeetje's Rump, the Director of Safety and Risk Management for the City of Columbia. As you know, holiday season and holiday safety shines the brightest doing. Late November, early January, that's when families begin to gather, parties begin to happen, and travel spikes. As Ms. Wattickle Smith stated earlier, a safety compliance manager about making sure that your vehicle is prepared, maintaining a kit, and getting rest. Here's some additional tips that you need to take when getting ready to plan to drive. Make sure that you plan ahead so you know your traffic, and when you're operating your vehicle, make sure you put down that cell phone. That cell phone has been the culprit to a lot of accidents. So make sure you use the proper driving technique and use defensive driving techniques. Next, decorate safety. Decorating safety is very important. It's just during this time of the year, a lot of people get in the mood for decorating, but unfortunately, a lot of emergency rooms see a lot of injuries from people decorating their homes and their environment, and they don't use safety precautions. Some of the things I recommend, such as poisonous berries, mistletoes, Jerusalem cherries, make sure you keep those away from children because they can be a potential of poison hazards to kids. When you're decorating your trees, make sure that you don't put a small ornaments down on the lower tree limbs because they're easy to be picked by kids and could be potentially swallowed. And make sure when you use an artificial tree, make sure that that tree says fire resistant. It's so very important you don't want anything to happen to you and your family while you enjoy the holiday season. Food parts is no joke. When you're cooking this holiday season, make sure you use separate cutting boards for raw meat and then cooked meat. You want to avoid cross contamination. Also too, you want to make sure anytime you cook your turkey, cut leftovers, cut that turkey up into smaller pieces and put it in the refrigerator. It is much more easy to chill it in smaller pieces than longer pieces. And then last but not least, make sure anytime you're doing any cooking, wash your hands frequently and often. Be the one to watch out for fire starters. What I mean by that, the use of candles in your fireplace. The use of candles in fireplaces will increase the combustible environment in your homes. And nine times out of ten, it puts your home at a fire risk. So if you're going to use candles, make sure you put them on a table that's not easily knocked over or blown over or knocked over by kids. Check your fireplaces before you light them to make sure that they're clean. And last but not least, I just want everyone to know that you should make sure that you take care of one another. You know, we're in the pandemic. It is just so important that we look off on one another. Remember, safety starts with an S, but it begins with you. And I would like for everyone to understand, enjoying your holiday season. Thank you.