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Safeguard your home - Electricity for health and safety PDF Print E-mail
The warnings are everywhere if you look for them. Buy a new appliance, read the attached information and warning labels. Open your panel box, read the warning labels. Go to your local hardware store and buy a piece of electrical equipment. Read the warning labels. I am going to quote right from the Electrical Safety Foundation International. “Of all the hazards we face in daily life, at home, at school, and on the job, there is perhaps none quite so insidious and uniquely unforgiving as electricity. You won’t see it coming, and when it strikes, it will likely strike hard, killing disfiguring, or disabling someone, or destroying property. While electrical related fires were the third larges cause of home structure fires, those fires resulted in the greatest amount of property damage.”

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released this statement: “Between 1994 and 1998, the CPSC estimates that there were over 360,000 residential fires each year, of which over 123,000 were related to electrical distribution or appliances and equipment, and another 15,000 were related to heating and air conditioning systems. These electrical fires caused an estimated average of 910 deaths, nearly 7,000 injuries and nearly $1.7 billion in property damage each year. Many of these incidents could have been prevented by having an electrical inspection of the house to find hidden hazards.”

Electricity is by far one of the greatest dangers most taken for granted. How many of us think about what we are doing when we plug an appliance cord into a socket, when we decide to remove the grounding pin from the cap because we want to plug into a two prong receptacle or when we use an extension cord on a lawnmower that was designed for a lamp. How about a simple task of changing a light bulb. Are you really aware of the dangers or do you blindly go about your business until you get shocked or worse yet burned and put into the hospital. This does not have to happen. You can set up a safety awareness campaign for all members of your family and take this same campaign into the work place. More and more of us are becoming do it yourselfers and attempt to do our own repairs. When it comes to electricity, BEWARE.

You can protect yourself against electrical related injuries and potential electrocution.

Let’s start with a simple awareness program. The art of thinking before you act.
  1. Working outside carrying a ladder. Make sure you know where the overhead lines are. Keep your ladders away.
  2. Planning on doing some major landscaping? Check it out before you dig. Make a phone call to your local power company. I have seen power lines as close as 2 inches below the grade level and totally unprotected. Look out for the hidden shockers.
  3. A common practice is to overload your circuits which can heat up the wires and devices to a point where a fire starts. Check to see what each can handle and make sure not to overload.
  4. Using a kitchen appliance and you notice the cord is hot. This is an indication that it needs to be changed.
  5. How about frayed and cut wires. Dangerous. They need to be replaced.
  6. Too dark in the hallway for you. Okay let’s just increase from a 60 watt bulb to a 150 watt bulb. More light. Absolutely. More risk. You bet. Do not use bulbs in fixtures in excess of what the label calls for. This is a fire hazard.
  7. How about arc fault circuit interrupters AFCIs. This is new code for all bedrooms. Replace your standard circuit breakers with one of these and you add additional safety to your electrical system.
  8. There are those little devices known as GFCI’s. Ground fault circuit interrupters. Current code says they need to be installed in bathrooms, kitchens, basements, garages, out doors and anywhere close to water. They are fairly inexpensive but most homes built prior to 1995 are lacking in GFCI receptacles in the appropriate places. Is this a code violation? Only if it was code when the house was built. Is it a safety issue? Absolutely. So do you wish to be right or do you wish to be safe? Safety always over rides codes.
  9. How about smoke detectors!!!!! Did you remember to test them? Oh! You don’t have any to test. Well for a few dollars you can have them installed or just install them yourselves. They may save your life or the life of a loved one. Remember to check the batteries a couple of times per year.
  10. A common problem today is the dimmer switch. If your light fixture is connected to a 3 way lighting system then you need to make sure you buy a 2 way dimmer control. It is also important you check the dimmer switch to make sure it can handle the total watts of all of the lights in the fixture. This is a time when you do not want to buy the least expensive switch. Many times the dimmers over heat because they are not sized correctly.
The 2 prong receptacle dilemma
Your home has 2 prong receptacles and all of your appliances and equipment have 3 prong plugs. What to do? We recommend you start by considering an electrical upgrade for the home. This does not mean going to the store and buying a 3 prong receptacle and changing out the 2 prong. This will not do you any good. The third prong is ground prong. Using high technology equipment today on ungrounded circuits is dangerous to your equipment and if your plug has a ground lead, then it was intended to be plugged into a grounded outlet.

Extension Cords
Extensions cords are great if they are used correctly. First of all make sure they are rated for the intended usage. They should be used temporarily and unplugged after each use. If you are going to use an extension cord outside, then make sure to buy one that is rated for outdoor use and once again make sure it is temporary. Do not use an extension cord as a permanent wiring device.

Handle wires and connections carefully and safely. Watch what you are doing and make sure you keep your wits about you. Do not take electricity for granted.

Not sure, then call an inspector or an electrician to perform a full electrical inspection of your home. Then follow through and make the needed repairs.

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