BATON ROUGE, La.--While winter is normally a peak hiring time for thousands of workers hoping to earn extra spending money during the holiday season, this could be the weakest holiday hiring season since 2001, according to John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Regardless of number, Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation (LWCC) is reminding employers of the importance of safety in the workplace for all holiday hires.
 
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas' forecast, hiring for the October-December 2008 shopping months could fall well short of last year's 698,300 retail jobs, which was 6.5% less than the 2006 holiday season.

While many people apply for traditional retail jobs such as sales associate or seasonal stock clerk, various other jobs--such as mailpersons, delivery drivers, or Christmas tree handlers--require holiday hires to work outdoors. With these particular jobs, recognizing such safety issues as slip and fall prevention, safe winter driving, correct lifting, and properly dressing for cold weather should be top-of-mind for both employees and employers.

"Employers should ensure that seasonal hires have the proper training and safeguards needed to keep them healthy and reduce their risk of workplace injuries during their holiday employment," says Mike Page, director of safety and loss prevention for LWCC. "From stocking shelves to delivering holiday packages, it is important for employees to follow the safety guidelines provided by their employers and do their part to recognize and help eliminate workplace injuries."

Though holiday hires are usually with a company for only a brief period of time, providing proper training and stressing preventive measures such as correct lifting and correct posture, proper use of equipment, dressing properly for cold weather and educating employees about the symptoms of cold-related stress will go a long way toward everyone having a happy and safe holiday season.

Visit LWCC's Web site at www.lwcc.com for more information on workplace safety for holiday hires and a variety of helpful workplace safety topics.