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Research from the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) shows that over 50,000 fires occur in homes yearly, resulting in around 500 deaths, over 1,400 injuries, and $1.3 billion in property damage. Any office or home has electrical equipment, and it can be dangerous if used or maintained incorrectly, resulting in shock and burn accidents. We want you to be safer with 7 electrical safety tips that can be of great help to avoid these unwanted scenarios.
Now that thousands of professionals and students abandoned their workplaces and classes to work from home. And with summer upon us, we will have more members of the family online, watching television, glued to their devices, with the air conditioner running non-stop and using appliances all at the same time.
These electrical safety tips can be used by the general public and do not require specific electrical safety training. They are essential to keep yourself and others safe.
Tips to prevent electrical hazards
1. Stay away from living electrical wires
As obvious as this may sound, the most important of the electrical safety tips is to avoid electrical currents. If the current is higher than 50V, a qualified professional must handle it. Make sure there are no exposed wires, and that all panel doors are closed around your house. If you encounter a live electrical wire, stay away and call an electrician.
2. Be organized with your electrical cords
Make sure they’re not running under carpets, or around your doorways. These cords can not only create a potential electric issue but can also make people trip and fall. If you notice they’re damaged, follow these simple electrical safety tips to fix them:
- Keep your used and unused cords tidy and organized.
- Regularly inspect electrical cords and extension cords for damage
- Store your unused cords in a water/moist proof container if you’re not using it.
- Avoid wrapping cords around the objects, this may cause them to stretch and break.
- Pull the plug, not the cord, when unplugging your devices.
- Keep cords away from sources of heat and water.
- Unplug appliances when not in use to save energy and reduce the risk of shock or fire
3. Keep your fire sprinkler and smoke detectors up-to-date
Often listed in the Electrical safety tips, you will find fire sprinklers. According to the National Fire Protection Association, sprinklers can reduce your risk of dying by 80% during a fire, and can reduce the risk of property loss by 70% during a fire. And when it comes to costs, it is minimal compared to the savings you can get when unwanted things happen.
They can also reduce the fire damages by 97% and lower the water usage in case of an incident, and reduce the greenhouse emissions when a fire happens. So they’re not only great for you, but also for the environment.
Smoke alarms are also a must-have. Bear in mind that you must change the batteries of your smoke alarms yearly and replace them every 10 years. Smoke detectors should be placed on every floor of your home, inside the main rooms, and outside each sleeping area.
4. Avoid overloading outlets
Electrical difficulties are often caused by overloading an electrical socket. Check that all outlets are cool to the touch, have protective faceplates, and are running properly.
Check out these electrical safety tips and signs on your outlets and make the proper adjustments:
- Blown fuses, warm or colored plates, the weird odor coming out of the plugs, or mild shock from the appliances might be a sign that you need to get your outlets checked.
- Remember to plug all major appliances directly into the wall receptacle outlet, not into extension cords.
- If you have kids, make sure to install safety caps and covers over the outlets. These can protect them from shock and prevent them from serious injuries.
- If you find yourself using too many extension cords, this might be an indicator that you should level up your power outlets. Call a qualified electrician to inspect and add more outlets if needed.
5. Understand your electric panel
You probably have experienced when you plug in a new device and as soon as you turn it on, your whole house shuts off. See, tripped breakers are not a power outage, but a way for your home to protect itself from circuit overloads.
Break panels-or electrical panels-are where your home’s electric brain is located. There, you will find breaker switches. Breaker switches can be toggled on and off. They’ll also cut off automatically if there’s too much electrical current flowing through them. Here are some electrical safety tips you should know about your electric panel:
- Service distribution panel and your branch circuits. Often, breaker switches are related to a certain area of your home. Make sure you label them properly to know where is the failure.
- Check for corrosion or visible damage.
6. Fire extinguishers
Make sure they are located in easily accessible areas of your house. Bear in mind that there is a different type of fire and,hence, different fire extinguishers to turn them off. Using an extinguisher for the wrong fire class may cause the fire to spread, re-ignite or even explode.
Remember to carry proper maintenance of your fire extinguisher—they need to be replenished after a certain time to keep them working as they should. While they’re not as common in U.S. homes cherish them as a part of your electrical safety tips to keep yourself and your family safe.
7. Keep appliances and electric devices away from water
Lastly, and often listed in the Electrical safety tips, is water. As you may already know, water and electricity aren’t good friends. If mixed, they can cause electrical shock and carry-out injuries, and electrocution. Remember to:
- Always use dry hands when you use, plug, or unplug an appliance or electric device.
- According to the NFPA, electrical appliances, equipment and cords should be kept at least 6 feet away from the water.
- It is preferable to use battery-run, instead of cord-connected appliances around water.
These simple -yet important- electrical safety tips are critical to keeping you and your loved ones safe. At Click2Power, we want to show you that electricity is an incredibly powerful source that deserves our attention and respect—it goes from powering your gadgets to lighting your home. And now you can make the choice!
Feel free to share your experiences with these electrical safety tips, and if you find them useful. If you have any doubts, you can contact us. We will be delighted to answer all your questions.
It really helped when you talked about how to prevent major electrical accidents. Recently, my wife and I purchased a home theater system and tried to plug it in. We think something went off with our electrical system, and we believe it’d be better if we looked for a professional’s help, so we’ll look into it. Thanks for the advice on a house’s electrical panel and how it protects us.
Electrical circuit breakers can be a very tricky and complicated piece of equipment. Not to mention, they can be very dangerous if you are not careful and taking the necessary precautions. It is very important to understand how they work and how to safely look at a circuit breaker board.
A simple understanding of electrical safety principles is a big help to avoid any electrical problems that may cause fires, injuries or even deaths. Asking for the help of an electrician is always the best thing to do.
You make a great point about using extension cords. I need to get a contractor who can rewire my circuit breaker. It blew out the other day.