Why Working Before a Holiday Increases Jobsite Safety Risks

Jobsites feel different right before a holiday. Crews show up, tools are running, schedules are technically intact but mentally, a lot of people are already gone.

Regroup Meeting

Travel plans, family events, long drives, flights, and the simple urge to be done start pulling attention away from the work in front of them. That shift is subtle, but it matters. From a safety perspective, the day before a holiday is one of the easiest times for risk to quietly increase without anyone noticing.

Attention Drops Before Incidents Rise

Most pre-holiday incidents don’t happen during complex, high-risk operations. They happen during routine tasks, the ones workers know well enough to stop actively thinking about.

Distraction erodes situational awareness. Small details get missed. Workers rush through steps they would normally take their time on. PPE compliance softens. Procedures start feeling optional instead of essential.

The work doesn’t look dangerous which is exactly why it becomes dangerous.

The Pressure to “Just Finish It”

One of the most common drivers of pre-holiday incidents is artificial urgency. Schedules tighten, not because the job demands it, but because people want closure before time off.

This often leads to:

• Skipping pre-task planning

• Combining steps that should stay separate

• Doing “one last task” that was never part of the plan

Those final, unplanned tasks are where injuries often occur. They rarely go through a proper hazard analysis, and they’re often performed when focus is already degraded.

Fatigue and Mental Load Matter More Than We Admit

Fatigue before holidays is frequently underestimated. Some workers push longer hours to make up for upcoming days off. Others are mentally drained from coordinating travel, finances, or family obligations.

Even when workers feel fine physically, their cognitive load is higher. Reaction times slow. Risk tolerance increases. Decision-making becomes more casual.

Safety systems assume people are fully present. Pre-holiday work challenges that assumption.

Supervision Often Softens, At the Worst Time

Supervisors and managers feel the holiday pull too. Nobody wants to be the reason a crew stays late or misses an early release.

As a result:

• Enforcement slips

• Minor issues get deferred

• Risk acceptance quietly increases

That combination, distracted workers + relaxed oversight is one of the most consistent patterns behind pre-holiday incidents.

It’s not malicious. It’s human. And it’s predictable.

The Fix Isn’t More Rules, It’s a Strategic Slowdown

Trying to compensate with extra rules or last-minute crackdowns rarely works. People tune it out.

What does work is planning ahead:

• Schedule high-risk work earlier in the week

• Reduce scope instead of compressing timelines

• Delay non-essential tasks until after the holiday

• Normalize stopping work when focus isn’t there

A controlled slowdown is far safer than a rushed finish.

One Question That Prevents Injuries

Before any task the day before a holiday, leaders should ask:

“Does this work truly need to happen today?”

If the answer isn’t a clear yes, postponing it may be the safest decision made all week.

Time off should be something workers leave the site healthy enough to enjoy.