Electrical safety is everyone’s responsibility. Electrical safety should be observed every time you even think about touching something connected to an electrical circuit. With the invention of electrical testers, circuits are easy to test and with circuit breakers and fuses, circuits can be shut off to avoid contact with electricity all together. Electrical safety often comes into play when bad weather strikes. Tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, and ice storms bring a vast array of dangerous conditions. In this blog, you’ll find some great tips to keep you safe when working with electricity. Read on, but, please remember, you should never take chances with electricity! If you really, really, really don’t know what you’re doing, call a professional electrician to help. Here at Lon Lockwood Electric, we put your safety first and will respond right away when you call with a potential or actual electrical safety problem!
Weather-Related Electrical Safety: The weather plays havoc on your electrical system, its components, and everything that is connected to them. Thunderstorms bring wild weather with lightning that can send a jolt to your electrical service. This can damage the electrical system itself and everything connected to it. Flooding rains can get into your house, cause electrocution hazards, damage electrical connections, and leave the devices it touched unsafe. Hurricanes and ice storms can take down power lines and leave electrocution hazards lying around everywhere. Keep your eyes open during and after storms for any of these shock or fire hazards.
Electrical Safety In and Around the Home: Everywhere you look in and around your home, electricity is connected to something. It may be the service line feeding your home, outlets feeding devices, or switches that control the lighting. But there are dangers when electricity is exposed to the human body. Stop and think safety every time you think about something that is connected to electricity. Safety first!
Wet Locations: Avoid wet areas when working with or on anything electrical. If there is a reason that you have to be in that situation, wear rubber boots and gloves to lesson your chance of getting shocked. Tools and appliances should be plugged into a GFCI outlet or GFCI extension cord. Don’t forget to dry your hands before grabbing any cord to plug it in or unplug it. Wet hands and a frayed cord don’t mix. You reach down to grab the cord and just like that, you’ve been shocked! Believe it or not, it happens.
And remember to call a professional before you get in over your head!
