With Halloween festivities coming soon, now is a good time to check your property to make sure it is Halloween safe. Since most of the Halloween festivities happen at night, you want to be sure their experience will be memorable and injury-free. In fact, it is estimated that over 40 million children each year hit the streets to collect candy.^[1] Higher foot traffic through your apartment community can be a recipe for disaster, especially if you do not take these ten precautions.

1. Check all outdoor lighting. Having a well-lit path to walk on is the best way to prevent injuries from trips and falls. Making sure your parking structures are illuminated can better enable drivers to see pedestrians as they step out into the street or cross the parking lot.
2. Ensure that there is an accessible path available. Are there obstructions like trash cans, debris, or construction cones that are blocking the path from building to building. Remember, trick-or-treaters will be looking for the shortest way to get around and if paths are blocked, that may force them to walk in streets or in areas where cars are travelling.
3. Walk through your community at night. If there is a common walking route you think trick-or-treaters will take, walk that same route at night. Look for tripping hazards, hidden holes, unmarked curbs, or general debris that could cause an injury.
4. Encourage tenants to wear bright colors and use flashlights. Even with ample light, your apartment community is bound to have its fair share of shadowy areas. Having a flashlight handy can make it much easier for people to navigate in and out of dimly lit areas. Wearing bright colors also makes it easier to spot trick-or-treaters crossing a street or walking in a parking lot.
5. Remove any plant debris from indoor and outdoor walkways, paths, or stairs. Plants are great decorations, but these can be one of the most overlooked injury hazards. Keep them up and off of the ground as much as possible.
6. Take decorations off of handrails. If you have festive decorations, be sure to keep those away from walkways and up off of the ground too! Taking Halloween decorations off of hand rails is also a good way to ensure that everyone has access to something to hold onto, when going up and down stairs.
7. Walk through grassy areas. Keep in mind that trick-or-treaters are often looking for the quickest path to get to the next building. This could mean cutting through grassy areas. If you have these areas that are common shortcut routes, inspect these too! Walk through the grass, during the day, looking for any obvious debris like glass, broken bottles, or other dangerous items. And, walk it again at night, to see if there are any unexpected holes in the grass or areas where someone’s foot could get entangled.
8. Inspect all stairwells. As people move through and around your apartment community, keeping walkways, entrances, and exits free are important. Halloween lights and decorations have been known to start fires and having a way for all halloween-goers to quickly and safely leave an area is key. Ask tenants to keep hallways and walkways clear of decorations so everyone can navigate through them.
9. Move trash cans to well-lit areas. Believe it or not, trash cans, especially ones low to the ground can be a very dangerous tripping hazard. You want to have them so trick-or-treaters have somewhere to put their candy wrappers, but keeping them in easy to see areas is key.
10. Make exits easily identifiable. Double check all exit and emergency lighting to be sure itis working properly should an emergency occur. This can also be a good time to review evacuation procedures with your tenants or post a note on social media reminding your tenants where exits are and how to notify management of safety issues.

Remember, at Top Floor Insurance, we want you and your tenants to be safe on Halloween, and every day. If you have any other Halloween safety tips, we’d love to hear them. Post them (and your best Halloween costumes from years past) on our Facebook page.

^[1] http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/10/29/why-halloween-is-dangerous-for-kids