Fire safety guidelines for seasonal decorations

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Medical Center holiday and seasonal decorations

When the holiday season nears, signs of festive cheer spread throughout the URMC. Many love this time of year for its celebratory sparkle, light-hearted mood, and the opportunity to reflect on another year of delivering Medicine of the Highest Order to all of the communities we serve.

If you or your team are planning on decorating your spaces, here are some guidelines to help us all enjoy the season in a way that’s safe, inclusive and consistent with the ICARE values at the core of what we do.

If you have any specific questions after reviewing these guidelines, please contact the University Fire Marshal’s Office at 275-3243.

Medical Center and patient care area display guidelines

What Locations Are Included?

The following locations are included in these guidelines as part of the University of Rochester Medical Center and patient care areas:

School of Medicine and Dentistry
Research Buildings (KMRB, Del Monte Institute, Saunders Research Institute)
Eastman Dental Center /Eastman Institute for Oral Health
Helen Wood Hall
Ambulatory Care Facility
Wilmot Cancer Center
Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong
Medical Imaging Building
Strong West
Sawgrass Surgical Center
Strong Memorial Hospital including the Emergency Building and Behavioral Health
Flaum Eye Institute, 3000 and 5000 building

What can you decorate with?

When decorating with lights, choose LED lights and check the label to confirm they are for indoor use and bear the Underwriter’s Laboratories (UL) or Factory Mutual (FM) marks.
Candles and any other open flames are prohibited. Electrical candles are an acceptable substitute.
With festive greenery, decorate with artificial greenery only. This should also be labeled as fire resistant or flame retardant and UL listed.
Avoid combustible materials including wrapping paper and streamers, dried plant matter like moss, leaves, hay, straw, corn stalks, shucks, cotton batting and flock. Limited snow spray is allowed.

How and where can you decorate?

Use power sources appropriately
An outlet is best, but you may use a single power strip, if necessary. Ensure it is UL 1363 listed and surge protected.
Avoid cube taps and flexible/twisty power strips.
Can’t reach an outlet? Move closer. Don’t use extension cords or “piggyback” with multiple power strips plugged in to one another.
Do not use red outlets. They are reserved for critical needs on the emergency power circuit.
Connect no more than three sets of lights together.
On electric lights, look for the label to see if they are identified for indoor use and bear the Underwriters’ Laboratories (UL) or Factory Mutual (FM) marks.
Use electrical tap or cup-type hooks instead of staples, tacks, nails or paper tape.

Electrical fire hazards

Ensure lights do not come into contact with items such as paper, packages and cloth.
Check carefully to verify there are no loose sockets or damaged wires.
Turn off all holiday lights before leaving the area and at the end of the workday.

Exits, stairs, and corridors

For your safety and that of your colleagues, patients and visitors, keep decorations out of corridors, aisles and stairways and off windows and doors.
Do not hang decorations from or decorate in any way that obstructs exit doors, exit signs, fire and smoke doors, sprinklers, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, pull stations, emergency lights and life safety equipment.

ICARE Guidelines for public spaces

In public spaces, we share the primary responsibilities of compassion and respect, among our other ICARE values. This involves being mindful and sensitive to others’ feelings, treating all individuals fairly and equitably, and avoiding assumptions. Regardless of intention, decorations directly related to a specific tradition may make patients, guests and others of different traditions feel they don’t belong in the space.

For that reason, we ask our teams to exercise high levels of compassion and respect and opt for decorations that celebrate the season in a way that all can share.

Decorations such as lights, snowflakes, bows and ribbons, stars and greenery are great examples of festive themes that everyone can enjoy.

Better Together, Ever Better

With these fire safety and ICARE guidelines in mind, we all can share in the fun and festivity of the season in a way that’s safe and inclusive.

When we place a high priority on safety, we are prioritizing you.

Do you have any additional questions regarding fire safety or our ICARE values in action? Let’s talk! The Holiday Decorations Committee welcomes your questions. Reach out to them at Decorations_Questions@URMC.Rochester.edu.

University holiday and seasonal decorations

There has been an increasing tendency in recent years for student residents, faculty and staff to decorate their individual rooms, offices and residential facilities for holidays. There are numerous fire safety-related hazards that can be created by such decorations. Policies concerning holiday decorations may vary dependent upon the type of building construction, occupancy and fire detection and suppression equipment utilized.

River Campus and offsite housing display guidelines

Trees and decorations

The use of natural trees (cut or alive), natural wreaths, boughs, or greenery are prohibited except as approved by the Fire Marshal because of its fire potential and rapid flame spread.
Only use artificial trees, wreaths, boughs, garland or greenery labeled as fire resistant or flame retardant (UL 2358) are permitted.
Artificial trees may be metallic or non-metallic.
Do not place electric lights on metallic trees. Remote spotlights are recommended for use with metal trees to avoid an electrical hazard.
Christmas trees and related decorations are not permitted in corridors, aisles, stairways or passageways.
Trees and related decorations are not allowed to obstruct the usual view of exit signs or any other life safety device (i.e., fire extinguisher, pull station, horn/strobe, sprinkler head or piping, etc.).
The following untreated combustible materials are prohibited for use in holiday decorations – hay or straw, bamboo, dry moss, wood shavings, dry leaves, wood back, corn stalks and corn shucks, saw dust, tumbleweed, flammable powders or liquids, plastic sheeting/pallets, untreated cotton batting, flock, paper streamers or confetti.
For holiday decorations, use plastic or foil decorations such as satin balls, plastic icicles, and holiday ribbon. Limited use of spray snow and tinsel are also permissible.
Combustible materials may not be placed on (more than 5% of) the surface of interior doors facing hallways, stairwells, or other exits (resident room doors, bathrooms doors, stairwell doors, exterior doors, etc.) Examples of combustible materials include paper, contact paper, and plastics, etc. One exception to this is a single memo or message board may be placed on a resident room door facing the hallway. The size may not exceed 200 square inches.
Posting of resident names is permitted on a single or name board placed next to the door on the masonry wall, not on the door. Room numbers may not be covered, and the nametag or sign may not exceed 200 square inches for both residents combined.
Posting of flyers and other combustible material is permitted only on general purpose bulletin boards, hall council bulletin boards and authorized posting areas for residence hall staff.
Displaying or hanging paper decoration shall not be permitted unless they are non-combustible or limited combustible, such as foil wrapping. No paper wrapping is allowed. Approved non-combustible items cannot be hung from sprinklers, smoke detectors, emergency lights or any life safety equipment.

Electric lighting

Battery-operated LED Strip lighting is not allowed.
Every LED electric light set used must bear the Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) or Factory Mutual (FM) label and be identified for indoor use.
All holiday LED lights shall be turned off before leaving the area or going to sleep.
The use of holiday lights, electric ornaments and extension cords in corridors and over exit doors is prohibited. Wiring shall not be strung through doors or ceilings or placed under carpeting.
No extension cords shall be used – only 1 UL (UL 1363 listed) power strip can be used. No piggybacking (multiple power strips plugged into each other), cube taps and the use of flexible (twisty) power strips shall not be allowed. If possible, plug directly into a power outlet.
No more than three (3) sets of holiday lights shall be connected together.
Before use, light strings should be carefully checked to ensure there are no loose sockets and wires are not frayed or damaged.
Light strings can generate enough heat to ignite paper or cardboard. Holiday lights should not come into contact with paper, packages, cloth or other combustible items.
Light strings should not be attached to walls or molding with staples, tacks, nails or paper tape. Use electrical tape or string them with cup-type hooks.

Miscellaneous items

The use of candles, lanterns, oil lamps or any type of other open flames in prohibited. As an option, electrical candles may be used.
Fire and smoke doors SHALL NOT be decorated.
Decorations on other doors shall not obstruct views through door vision panels.

These are guidelines only. For specific questions, please contact the University Fire Marshal’s Office at 275-3243.

Environmental Health & Safety Department