Last updated : December 23, 2024
‘Tis the season to celebrate, and many Atlanta businesses will get into the holiday spirit by holding parties for their employees. After all, what better way to show appreciation for a successful year and get everyone psyched up for the year to come? Your employees will no doubt appreciate a good party, but they’ll enjoy themselves even more if you make sure they stay safe during (and after) the revelry.
Throwing a safer party takes planning. Prior to your party prep, you might peruse this list of propositions to protect your party people.
Picking the right venue
Whether you plan to party on or off site, pay attention to the surroundings. Opt for locations that are easy to get into and out of, places large enough to hold everyone safely and comfortably. Keep accessibility in mind for those who might have difficulty navigating stairs or moving between closely packed tables.
Pinpointing the right date
While Friday and Saturday may strike you as default party days, you might want to play it smarter by scheduling your shindig either during office hours, or on a weekday night. Partygoers are less likely to go overboard during work hours or tie one on when they know they’ll have to rise and shine early the next day.
Preparing the right food
If you plan to serve alcohol, you’ll want to offer eats that help soak it up. Take a moment—better yet, take a poll—to identify food allergies and/or preferences, so you can order up snacks for everyone. Finally, keep food safety in mind. Make sure hot foods stay hot enough and keep cold foods refrigerated until you’re ready to use them.
Publicizing your alcohol policy
Is your workplace drug or alcohol free? Nice. Be sure you remind everyone about company policies before party day. The fact that you plan to serve alcohol at your party shouldn’t give anyone a license to over do it.
Providing other options
Offering non-alcoholic drink options will provide liquid holiday happiness to your teetotalers and may cut back on alcohol consumption. It’s also an opportunity to be festive with themed holiday beverages.
Passing out drink tickets
This is probably the most effective way to make sure your employees stay on the right side of sober. Issue two drink tickets to anyone who expresses an interest in same, and let all hands know passing unused tickets to friends or coworkers won’t work.
Paying a professional
A professional bartender provides another stop-gap against overindulgence. He/she can not only keep an eye on consumption, but will be able to cut off those who’ve had enough and don’t know it. A bartender can also notify you of potential problems.
Putting up decorations the smart way
Seriously, you don’t want people standing on office chairs to hang those sparkly snowflakes. Get a ladder. Avoid sparks and outages; don’t overload your outlets. That heat vent? Probably not a good location for tinsel. Cords strung across the floor? A workman’s comp claim waiting to happen!
Passing on the mistletoe
Just don’t go here, all right? Decorating with mistletoe can invite behavior that “smacks” of harassment litigation. Hopefully, you took time pre-party to review that policy, as well, but if you forgot, don’t make the situation worse.
Planning safe rides home
This is a no-brainer, right? If you’re going to serve alcohol, you need to take the responsibility, make sure every party person gets home safely. Fortunately, you’ve got a number of options available to you. You can keep it as simple as having people sign up to be designated drivers, or you can make arrangements with services like Uber Atlanta or Atlanta Area Lyft. Encourage employees to take advantage of paid services—including your run-of-the-mill taxi—by either offering to pay their fare upfront or letting them know they’ll be reimbursed later.
Celebrating the holidays safely can be done, even with so much excitement and traffic in a town like Atlanta!
