Admittedly, Halloween is one of my favorite days. While serving as the gateway to the upcoming holiday season, Halloween is a day when we can let our inner child out to play. Ghosts, goblins, witches (my personal favorite) and vampires are found everywhere you look. What a great way to spend the day.

When Halloween finally arrives, you and your staff are ready. The pumpkins are carved and you’ve placed the big bowls of candy in the office and the clubhouse. Perhaps you’ve even scheduled an evening of scary movies or a costume contest in the clubhouse.

But is your community really ready for that onslaught of small children? If you’ve ever gone trick or treating, you know that hordes of kids typically run from house to house (or apartment to apartment) in search of the best candy. What they’re not doing is looking out for typical hazards that can literally trip them up and end their evening early with a trip to the emergency room.

So what can you do to ensure that the kids and their parents or guardians are safe while trick or treating on your property? Here’s a quick checklist:

• Check your outdoor lighting. This includes both community lighting as well as outdoor apartment lighting and replace any burned out or broken lighting with new bulbs prior to Halloween.
• Consider using employees or volunteer tenants to assist with crowd control. While it’s doubtful that you’ll have that many kids that you need true crowd control, having some volunteers with flashlights assisting with direction and traffic control can help to ensure that the kids stay safe throughout the evening.
• Check for low-hanging or broken tree branches. While your community most likely has lighted sidewalks, the odds of all of the kids actually staying on those sidewalks are slim. When in groups, kids have a tendency to run, push, shove, and jump. Keeping the ground clear of possible hazards will help them stay safe, even if they do insist on running.
• Check stairs, sidewalks, and parking lots for potential obstacles or hazards the afternoon before Halloween. Place hazard tape or signs around any areas where a potential danger is found.

While it’s impossible to guarantee that no one will get hurt trick or treating at your properties, by putting these precautions in place, it’s likely