ELECTRIC SAFETY TIPS TO KEEP YOU & YOUR FAMILY SAFE AROUND THE HOME

As the woman of the household, your main concern is caring and nurturing for your family, which includes ensuring they are all safe in their surroundings.

Here are some tips for safety around the house when it comes to electricity:

Conducting Important Routine Safety Inspections

Appliances needing repairs or replacement should be attended to immediately. Not doing so could result in an accident. In your home, breakages and excessive wear and tear on electrical equipment can occur frequently so you need to make regular inspections and take precautions to ensure your safety.

Plugs and Electric Sockets

• Look for the SABS sign and only use SABS approved plugs.• Do not overload plugs
• Do not pull a plug by the cord.
• Switch the switch off at the wall socket, before pulling the plug out.
• Do not connect electrical appliances to light sockets.
• Ensure that all wall sockets have their switches in the “off” mode, when not in use.
• Never put bare wires into sockets.
• Do not stick fingers into sockets.
• If there are babies in the house, ensure that wall sockets are covered with a safety cap, keeping the area safe for babies to play in.

Cords

• Do not use frayed cords – replace worn and frayed cords on appliances immediately.
• Keep cords well away from hot stoves and other hot surfaces.
• Do not run electric cords under carpets and rugs.
• Do not join cords with tape.
• Do not run cords where people can easily trip over them.
• Use SABS approved electrical wires or cords.

Water

• Do not use electrical appliances in the bathroom.
• Never touch electrical appliances with wet hands.
• Never fill a kettle when it is plugged in.
• Never mow wet grass with an electric lawnmower.
• Never use water to put out an electrical fire if the mains are not switched off. Use a dry chemical fire extinguisher instead.

Electricity and Children

• Make sure that the cords of your iron and kettle are not left hanging where a child can pull them, thereby causing a hot iron or kettle to fall down and burn the child.
• If you have turned a heater on, watch your child carefully so that he / she does not stick their fingers through the grill and touch the hot bars of the heater.
• Do not let children play with electrical cords – they can chew on a live wire.
• Teach children not to play with electrical sockets. Keep all unused plugs in the house covered with a safety plug. Babies love to stick their fingers into the plug holes.

General Safety

• If you are using an extension cord, never let it run under carpets or rugs – place it in a “no-trip” zone.
• To avoid an accident, keep heaters and fans a safe distance from your curtains and furniture – at least 3 feet away.
• Electricity outlets and switches should always be cool to the touch – if they aren’t call a technician to fix it for you and NEVER touch it yourself.
• Unplug any of your small appliances when you are not using them, eg. Toasters, irons, hairdryers.
• Do not use electric blankets with loose wires – they could cause a fire or shock. Do not tuck in or squeeze wires as this is also very dangerous.
• Turn your heating pad off before you go to sleep.
• Use the specified watt light bulb as indicated on the light fixture.
• Never change a light bulb without first making sure that the current is switched off.
• Do not use a fork or a knife or anything that is made of metal to remove toast from a toaster when it is plugged in.
• If you see sparks or smoke from an electrical appliance, it is telling you that something is wrong. Unplug it and call an electrician from Laatz Electrical.
• Do not work on an electrical appliance unless you know exactly what you are doing

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