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As our reliance on electricity grows, the potential for misuse of home appliances, computers and entertainment equipment means the need for electrical safety awareness for the family is far more important. The Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) urges consumers to become more knowledgeable about electrical safety by offering free tips on what you can do to protect your family from electrical dangers.

Another domain where different cultures have a very different approach is electrical safety. Each time I travel to the US, in particular with my kids, I feel somewhat unsafe when I look at the electrical equipment there compared to what is routinely found in Europe.

Walsall Housing Group (whg) is pioneering a new electrical safety check for its residents, which will help spot electrical problems in people’s homes.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration,* home electrical problems accounted for an estimated 67,800 fires and $868 million in property losses in 2003. Electrical fires also cause an estimated 485 deaths annually and injure almost 2,300 more individuals. For this reason, the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) suggests that homeowners consider installing AFCI protection in general purpose circuits throughout the home.

1. Immediately report any suspected electrical problems, such as devices that seem to be overly warm, cracked cords, loose plugs, and broken wiring devices. Contact your Division Safety Coordinator, Facilities Electricians, or EHS Electrical Safety Engineer at ext. 4694.2. Electrical problems are not always revealed at the time of the installation. It can take months or years before an improper connection begins to fail. 3. Beware of overloading receptacles, plug strips, and circuits by plugging in too much equipment. A circuit breaker will not trip immediately when overloaded. Wire can overheat well before a breaker trips.

Workers should understand the power of electricity. Accidents happen because of ignorance. Teach workers about the components of electricity and how to deal with hazardous situations.

Use ESFI material to increase electrical safety awareness in your home, workplace and your community. Most ESFI electrical safety information is available to download free of charge.

I have just finished adding an online Arc Flash Safety Quiz to our Arc Flash web site. This is my first effort at creating an online quiz like this, so I've started with twelve questions to see how it goes. My plan is to add additional questions once I am sure everything is working fine.

MORE than 80 per cent of Londoners have had an electric shock in their own home. Dodgy electrical appliances are the chief culprit, accounting for more than a fifth of all shocks, and 17 per cent of Londoners got a jolt while using cutlery to unblock a toaster.

But there are also those who try to steal electricity and PECO is trying to get the word out about how dangerous that can be. 

Bangalore: Among the several banes caused by violation of civic bylaws, perhaps the most pernicious one pertains to that of electrical safety norms, especially in some of the crowded residential areas of Bangalore.

Every year, electrical fires result in thousands of injuries, hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage and, in some cases, even death. While some fires are caused by faulty products, many more are caused by the misuse and poor maintenance of electrical equipment, incorrectly installed wiring, overloaded circuits and misapplied extension cords. Smoke alarms, fire extinguishers and escape ladders are all examples of emergency equipment used in homes to take action when a fire occurs. A device called an Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter, or AFCI, is a residential circuit breaker designed to detect arcing faults and thus prevent fires from occurring in the first place. Arcing can occur when you're hanging a picture and inadvertently pierce a wire in the wall, when old wires fray or when you string extension cords together to run fans or space heaters. Approximately 2,300 injuries, 67,800 fires and 485 deaths occur each year that can be associated with home wiring, totaling $868 million in property losses. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that "AFCI devices may address 50 percent or more of these fires."

Electrical Safety Answers

Every year, people are injured or killed by circuits they thought were safely turned off.