Thanksgiving Safety Tips: How To Protect Your Home, Family and Guests

From cooking fires to foodborne illnesses to slip-and-fall injuries, there are several risks you may encounter while planning for or hosting a large family gathering on Thanksgiving. While your home insurance policy can cover property damage and liability claims, it’s better to take Thanksgiving safety precautions so you can avoid costly mishaps in the first place.

Thanksgiving safety tips include keeping an eye on food while cooking, safely preparing a turkey to prevent food poisoning, cleaning up trip hazards and securing your home before leaving for a vacation.

Check out the rest of the article to see 10 safety tips for Thanksgiving Day that can help you kick off a fun holiday season while keeping yourself and your loved ones safe.

On This Page

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  What Are the Most Common Thanksgiving Safety Hazards?

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  Thanksgiving Safety Checklist: 10 Essential Precautions

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  Thanksgiving Cooking and Fire Safety Tips

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  Thanksgiving Food Safety

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  How To Prevent Thanksgiving Injuries at Home

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  Thanksgiving Travel and Home Security Tips

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  Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Thanksgiving Accidents?

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  Thanksgiving Safety at a Glance

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  How To Get Home Insurance Before Thanksgiving

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  Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Most Common Thanksgiving Safety Hazards?

Fires and food poisoning are two of the most common Thanksgiving hazards. The average number of home cooking fires on Thanksgiving is more than three times higher than the average daily rate throughout the year.^[1] Meanwhile, one of the most prevalent bacteria responsible for food poisoning is tied to popular holiday foods — like turkey and roast beef — with outbreaks occurring most often in November and December.^[2]

Some other common Thanksgiving accidents and risks you need to watch out for include the following:

• Slipping and falling on icy walkways or kitchen spills
• Choking on food while talking around the dinner table
• Getting into a car accident as many drivers hit the road to head to their family meals
• Spreading infectious diseases as several people gather in potentially small and cramped spaces to eat together
• Accidentally cutting yourself with a kitchen knife and getting an infection
• Injuring yourself while playing football with friends and family members

Thanksgiving Safety Checklist: 10 Essential Precautions

Throughout the following sections, you’ll learn several tips to stay safe on Thanksgiving, which can help protect your family and lower the odds that you’ll need to file a homeowners insurance claim.

Thanksgiving Cooking and Fire Safety Tips

To avoid kitchen fires and serious burns, take the precautions discussed below as you prepare food for your Thanksgiving meal.

Never Leave Food Unattended While Cooking

There’s a high risk of holiday fires due to the high volume of cooking done on Thanksgiving. Cooking accounted for 74% of Thanksgiving fires in residential buildings from 2017 to 2019 — while accounting for only 51% of residential fires across all other days during that time span.^[3] Given the prevalence of cooking fires, you must be especially vigilant when preparing food on Thanksgiving.

For example, you shouldn’t leave the kitchen if you’re actively cooking on the stovetop, and you shouldn’t leave the house if you’re cooking a turkey or anything else in the oven. Also, pay extra close attention if you cook multiple different foods at the same time, and keep track of how long each dish has been cooking so you don’t overcook anything and risk a dish catching fire.

In the event that a kitchen fire does break out, a fire extinguisher is generally the best tool for preventing it from expanding into a full-on house fire. You may also be able to smother small fires with baking soda. Alternatively, if the fire is contained within a single pot or pan, you may be able to put it out by turning off the stovetop and covering the pot or pan with a metal lid to deprive the fire of oxygen.^[4]

Never pour water on a grease fire because, instead of extinguishing the flames, the water will vaporize and expand, pushing burning grease outward and making the fire grow even larger.^[4]

Keep Children and Pets Away From Cooking Areas

Children and pets should stay at least three feet away from the stove while you’re cooking to avoid potential burn injuries. Even if the flames are under control, they still risk being burned by boiling water, hot gravy or other scalding liquids that could splash out of a pot. Similarly, make sure kids don’t have easy access to matches or lighters, and don’t leave them alone in any room with a lit candle.^[1]

Avoid Dangerous Fryers and Grease Fires

Using a turkey fryer to prepare your Thanksgiving turkey is dangerous, and the National Fire Protection Association advises against it altogether.^[1] Among the various types of cooking equipment involved in indoor residential fires, deep fryers were responsible for the second-highest number of deaths and injuries per 1,000 home fires from 2017 to 2021.^[5]

Deep frying a turkey is particularly dangerous when it requires a large amount of oil that becomes extremely hot. If you overfill the fryer, oil could spill out once you put the turkey in, potentially scalding anyone nearby or even causing the entire fryer to burst into flames.^[6] As a result, it’s recommended that you buy a turkey that has already been fried from a restaurant or grocery store if you’d like to serve fried turkey on Thanksgiving.^[1]

That said, if you still intend to deep fry the turkey for your Thanksgiving dinner, it’s generally recommended that you do so outside on a flat surface away from any structure on your property or anything else that is flammable. Also, verify that the turkey is completely thawed before you begin frying it to lower the risk of a catastrophic fire or explosion.^[6]

Test Smoke Alarms and Prepare for Emergencies

Amid the many distractions that may occupy your time on Thanksgiving Day, it’s possible for a kitchen fire to go unnoticed until it has grown devastatingly big. To protect against this risk, make sure your smoke alarms are working properly before you start cooking the Thanksgiving meal. If the alarm barely makes any noise or doesn’t go off at all when you press the test button, you may need to replace the batteries in your smoke detector.

While it’s crucial to make an effort to practice fire safety on Thanksgiving to lower the odds of a fire-related catastrophe, you should also consider having an emergency plan in place so the guests at your Thanksgiving gathering will know how to react if a fire breaks out. For example, you may want to discuss evacuation routes for each room in your house so your loved ones will understand how to escape in the event of a fire.

Thanksgiving Food Safety

Following the safety precautions discussed in the upcoming sections can help you prevent upset stomachs or other serious illnesses during your Thanksgiving get-together.

Thaw and Cook Your Turkey Safely

Before preparing your turkey, make sure it’s evenly thawed in a refrigerator, cold water or a microwave. Then, you must thoroughly cook it, using a food thermometer to confirm it has an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit before you serve it. In the same way, reheat any side dishes you cooked in advance until they have an internal temperature of 165 degrees.^[7]

Prevent Cross-Contamination and Store Leftovers Properly

Other steps you can take to mitigate the risk of food poisoning on Thanksgiving include:^[7]

• Washing your hands thoroughly before cooking
• Avoiding cross-contamination between raw meats and foods that have already been cooked or don’t need to be cooked — such as fruits and vegetables
• Preparing dry and wet ingredients separately before loosely stuffing your turkey
• Refrigerating perishable leftovers within two hours of cooking them
• Throwing away refrigerated leftovers after four days and frozen leftovers after two to six months

How To Prevent Thanksgiving Injuries at Home

Here are the most important steps to take to keep visitors from getting hurt on your property this Thanksgiving.

Prevent Slips, Falls and Kitchen Injuries

Before guests come over on Thanksgiving Day, make sure there aren’t any loose rugs, stray toys or other misplaced items people could fail to notice amid a crowded house and trip over. Likewise, if you spill anything in the kitchen, clean it up promptly so no one slips and injures themselves. You may also need to salt icy walkways or take similar actions to prevent slip-and-fall injuries outdoors — especially if you live in an area with very cold weather.

Use Candles and Knives Safely

Whether it’s an indoor candle or an outdoor bonfire, you should always have an adult present to keep an eye on and tend open flames. Otherwise, a child could easily get seriously hurt by tripping and falling into the fire. Also, if candles are left unattended near decorations or other flammable materials, children and pets could cause significant property damage by knocking the candles over and starting house fires.

In addition, you should always store your knives and other sharp utensils on a high shelf or — at the very least — in a place where children can’t easily reach them. If you aren’t currently using a knife, consider putting it away; after all, even adults can accidentally jab or cut themselves on misplaced knives amid the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving Day festivities.

Protect Pets From Dangerous Thanksgiving Foods

Be careful about giving Thanksgiving leftovers to your pets, since many common holiday foods can jeopardize an animal’s health. For example, you may not want to feed your cat the fat portions of the turkey, since animals have a hard time digesting fatty foods. And while dogs may love to chew on other kinds of bones, it’s best not to give them poultry bones, which can splinter and damage a dog’s digestive tract.^[8]

Thanksgiving Travel and Home Security Tips

If you’re going to someone else’s house for Thanksgiving, you can keep your own home safe by taking steps like locking your windows and doors, leaving the lights on to make it seem like someone is home and installing a home security system. You may even be able to set up a smart home device that turns your lights off automatically at a certain time in case you plan on being out late.

Meanwhile, if you’ll be traveling out of town on Thanksgiving, consider hiring a house-sitter or asking a friend or neighbor to pick up your mail and packages while you’re away. It’s also helpful to leave a car parked in your driveway while you’re gone. In general, the less obvious it is that no one is home, the less likely it is that your home will be the target of a burglary.^[9]

Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Thanksgiving Accidents?

A standard home insurance policy covers several possible sources of damage to your home and belongings on Thanksgiving, including fire, smoke, explosions, vandalism, theft and water discharge from home appliances.^[10] Additionally, the personal liability and medical payments coverage portions of your policy may pay for medical care if a guest gets hurt at your home. Personal liability insurance also covers legal fees if you’re sued by a sick or injured visitor.

Keep in mind that homeowners insurance can cover damage to your house or belongings caused by a vehicle collision — in case multiple people are driving to and parking on your property and someone crashes into your home on Thanksgiving.^[10] Conversely, damage to your car caused by another vehicle should be covered by either the at-fault driver’s liability car insurance or your collision auto insurance.

Thanksgiving Safety at a Glance

1. It’s important to know how to stay safe on Thanksgiving because of common risks like cooking fires, food poisoning, trip-and-fall injuries and car accidents.
2. To lower the odds of a house fire, you need to keep an eye on food while it’s cooking, check your fire alarms to make sure they’re working properly and refrain from cooking turkey in a deep fryer — especially indoors.
3. You can mitigate the risk of foodborne illness this Thanksgiving by adequately thawing your turkey, cooking it to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, ensuring you don’t cross-contaminate raw and cooked foods and putting leftovers in the fridge or freezer within a couple of hours.
4. By cleaning your home, clearing snow and ice from walkways, placing knives and candles cautiously and keeping unsafe foods away from pets, you can lower the odds of serious injuries on Thanksgiving.
5. Protect your home while you’re out of the house by locking up, setting up security cameras or smart home devices and asking trusted friends or neighbors to make your house look lived in if you’ll be away for several days.
6. Homeowners insurance can prevent major financial losses if you experience sudden property damage or lawsuits during the Thanksgiving holiday period. Covered losses may include fire, theft, damage from cars, slip-and-fall injuries and food-related illnesses.

How To Get Home Insurance Before Thanksgiving

Here’s how you can obtain a homeowners insurance policy that covers all of the most common risks you may face this Thanksgiving:

1. Determine how much homeowners insurance coverage you need.
2. Prepare all the information you’ll need to receive quotes, such as your address, the age of your house and whether you have any security features that could make you eligible for discounts.
3. Compare quotes from around three to five different insurance providers to find the best possible deal on the right kind of policy.
4. Submit an application once you’ve found the best policy available, and if you’re approved, pay your first premium to activate your coverage.
5. If you’re still paying off your house, contact your mortgage lender to let them know once you’re insured.

For the most efficient comparison shopping process possible, shop around through an online insurance marketplace, such as SmartFinancial. Fill out our questionnaire about your coverage needs and budget, and we can get you in touch with an insurance agent who can offer you quotes for affordable, customized home insurance policies. Click this link to get started on receiving free homeowners insurance quotes today!