Electrical safety advice

• Never repair an appliance while it’s still plugged in. You risk injury from electric shock, burns or injury from moving appliance parts.
• Never run cables under a carpet or rug to keep them out of the way. These are a trip hazard but are also a fire risk.
• Never dry clothes on an electric heater If the ventilation holes are covered, or if water drips into the heater, it could cause an electric shock or fire.
• Get a registered electrician to install downlights as installing them incorrectly or fitting the wrong replacement lamp can pose a serious fire risk in your home. Remember to keep instructions for reference when you need to replace lamps. Make a note of the downlight’s lamp wattage and type.
• Don’t store combustible materials (clothes, papers, cleaning materials etc.) close to electrical equipment.
• Be careful when hanging pictures and putting up shelves. Don’t drill holes or fix nails in walls without knowing what is behind them. They could be hiding electrical cables and gas and water pipes. Use a cable and metal detector to find these.
• Most homes have four electrical sockets in each room, however, sometimes this might not be enough. If you need to use an extension lead, be careful not to overload it. Use the online calculator at www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/overloadingsockets to make sure you’re not overloading an extension lead.
• Never plug an adapter or extension lead into another adapter or extension lead.

Because of the potential combination of water and electricity in the kitchen, it’s important that electrical appliances are installed correctly.

• Make sure electrical appliances are kept at a safe distance from the sink.
• If appliances such as fridges, dishwashers and washing machines are fitted under worktops, it could make getting to sockets difficult. If possible, make sure these appliances have a switched fuse connection unit mounted above the worktop which you can reach it easily.
• Check that leads and appliances such as kettles and toasters are in good condition.
• Don’t use any electrical equipment or switches when your hands are wet.
• Don’t wrap flexible cables around any equipment when it is still warm.
• Don’t clean or try to repair an appliance when it is still plugged in.
• Don’t try to remove bread from a toaster unless it’s unplugged.
• Don’t fill a kettle or steam iron when it is plugged in.

• Don’t bring electrical appliances such as hairdryers, heaters or radios into a bathroom. You could be severely injured or killed.
• Sockets are not allowed in bathrooms or shower rooms (apart from shaver-supply units) unless they are fitted at least three metres from the bath or shower.
• Shaver-supply units must be a safe distance from the bath or shower to avoid splashes.
• A ceiling-mounted pull-cord switch with the cord made of insulating material is the safest option for a bathroom. Standard wall-mounted light switches are a possible danger because of dampness and wet hands.
• Central heating is a good way of keeping a bathroom warm. But, if you do have an electric room heater, it must be fixed at a safe distance from the bath or shower.
• Electric and gas water heaters in a bathroom must be fixed and permanently wired, unless they are powered by a socket fitted three metres from a bath or shower.