Staying safe in the workplace
When it comes to electricity, you should always follow any policies already in place. In the meantime, here are 5 top tips for staying safe: Read more
Free Training on Electrical Best Practice for Letting Agents
A new free online course has been launched to help letting agents understand the importance of regular electrical safety checks.
Keep safe with these simple checks
Keep electrics in your property maintained and make sure you don’t expose yourself or anyone you live with to potentially fatal electrical accidents like millions of people in the UK, down to a simple lack of knowledge. Read more
Safety in Numbers
How often do you consider that you could have a faulty electrical product in your home or office?
Electrical Safety First have recently released a news article with worrying statistics about the success rate of recalling fault electrical goods. In the January sales and over Christmas, masses of electrical products have been purchased with an assumption that what you buy off the shelf or on the internet is going to be safe; this is not the case. Read more
Safety not complacency this Christmas
New research commission by NICEIC, the UK’s leading regulatory body for electricians has uncovered some disturbing statistics about the safety of our homes during the Christmas period.
Protect your electrical equipment and your safety with an RCD
Residual Current Devices (RCDs) are used for extra safety as they detect most electrical faults and almost immediately cut of the electricity supply.
Supply cables are permanently protected if the RCD is built into the main supply or socket-outlet, speak to our team today to find out how we can make this possible in your business. An RCD works by constantly monitoring the flow of electricity, if it detects the electricity flowing down an unintended path, for example a person who has touched a live part, it will switch off the circuit rapidly, reducing the risk of serious injury or death.
Are your lights flickering?
Flickering lights is a relatively common issue and do not always indicate a problem with your electrical system. If your lighting flickers in your home or office there are a variety of explanations, here are the main causes below and how to address them:
If a single light bulb is flickering, it’s likely that it’s the bulb causing the issue. You can check to make sure the bulb is secured properly in the fitting (always make sure you switch the light off before doing this to stay safe). If a bulb isn’t secured properly then this can cause a flicker as it’s not connected correctly. If you find the light still flickers when it’s switched back on it could mean that the particular bulb needs to be replaced as it’s at the end of its lifespan.
Summer is out and portable heaters are in
Stay warm and safe this winter when using portable heaters. They are a great low-cost option; particularly for older generations and small offices where it would be costly to generate heat for a whole building.
In terms of energy efficiency there isn’t much difference between the main types of heaters on the market, the main types of portable heaters are:
– Oil-filled radiators
– Convector heaters
– Fan heaters
– Halogen heaters
Electrical Safety First carried out a survey which indicates at least half of those surveyed would be happy to use a portable heater and almost 40% would be comfortable leaving it unattended, and 20% ready to leave a portable heater switched on overnight.
Extension leads; be safe in your home
One appliance, one socket is best practice in your home and should be followed wherever possible, many of us are guilty of overloading sockets with block extensions and extension leads when they were only ever designed for temporary use.
For most, the use of extension leads as a permanent feature is considered the norm and often means that safety isn’t considered like it should be. Overloaded and twisted extension leads can overheat, blow fuses and cause damage through fire if not managed correctly.
Water damage? Check your electrics
Water damage can occur for a variety of reasons, and even though you may feel like you’ve dealt with all of the damage, such as damaged furniture, flooring and walls; what about the damage you can’t see?
Even if you don’t think you are experiencing any interruption to your electrical service, there doesn’t need to be any outward signs of damage. Just because your lights aren’t flickering or there doesn’t appear to be any damp, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to hire an electrician to carry out an intensive check of your wiring.