Electrical safety in your home

Safety Checks & Life Savers

• Make sure your switchboards have been upgraded with safety switches and protection devices (Circuit Breakers or Residual Current Devices – RCDs) for your and your family’s protection, as it is now a compulsory expectation outlined in the AS/NZS 3000:2007 electrical standard.
• Regularly test your Protection Devices and Safety Switches. Testing is advised to be conducted once a year for Circuit Breakers and every six months for RCDs this is to ensure they are operating safely and correctly so there are no potential faults with the device affecting its correct operation.
• Call a licensed electrician to carry out any kind of electrical work or install any electrical equipment in your home, office, shop, or factory.
• ONLY use extension leads with 3-pinned plugs. The EARTH pin is designed to allow electricity to flow through the earthing pin and not through you.
• Overloading power points can be dangerous or lead to nuisance tripping of your Protection Devices and Safety Switches. It is recommended to use only one double adapter or power board per power point. Or get a qualified electrician to install additional power points where desired.
• Whether painting the whole house or touching up electrical accessories, don’t remove power points or switches as this will expose live wires. Use Masking Tape around them and continue painting as you normally would.
• If you’re using a ladder around the outside of your home, be cautious and responsible to keep your distance from evident power lines at all times.
• Be sure your Smoke Detectors are all operating correctly, test regularly, and if you don’t have any installed, call an electrician immediately and get them installed, as it is illegal not to have them.
• Remove and replace damaged cords and extension leads.
• Switch off the light switch before replacing the light bulbs. Be careful in case your light is operated by a two-way switch.
• Never pull the power cord to remove a plug from the power point.
• If there is a permanent presence of children in your home, be sure to place safety plugs in your power points to prevent the little ones poking things into them.
• Only plug low-powered appliances into power boards or adaptors.
• If you feel a tingle or shock from an appliance (tap, sink, shower, laundry tub, etc), quickly turn off the power at the switchboard and immediately call a licensed electrician.
• Never touch electrical appliances when your hands are wet.
• Electrical appliances should always be kept away from water, even when switched off.
• Never use portable electric heaters in a bathroom. A fixed heater installed by a licensed electrician is much safer and more convenient for your home.

These simple electrical safety tips will help you identify where the danger areas lie – and how to avoid them!

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About Moe and Electrotech
Moe is Director of Electrotech, a Sydney-based company, and has many years of experience as an electrical contractor. He is committed to providing the best quality of workmanship and excellence -safely and responsibly. Electrotech offers quality customer service, with the team on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The wide range of services offered includes ALL electrical works, Switchboard Upgrades, Data & Communication Systems, Security Systems, Audio & Visual Systems, Industrial Automation & Control Systems, Air Conditioning, Service & Maintenance contracts, Renovations, Shop & Office Fit-Outs, and Safety Inspections.