Keep electricity safety in mind this festive season, says Eskom
Power utility Eskom urged citizens to keep safe around electricity at home and on the roads this festive season.
While you and your family plan your festive décor and ways to enjoy the long summer days, it is important to keep electricity safety in mind – especially for the children at home, urged Eskom.
• Staying at home
If you are staying home this year and would like to create a festive ambiance with some lights, the golden rule is always to purchase SABS-approved products. These are quality-assured and therefore meet safety requirements. If you have stored your lights after use in the previous season, check for exposed wires and broken bits. It might seem minor, but defective string lights are a fire hazard and can harm those installing them.
Poor-quality wiring, exposed cables, and overloaded plugs pose the biggest danger to children in the home. If there are cables across the floor, get a qualified electrician who uses the correct tools to make sure that all your electricity cords are secured against a wall or next to the wall where they will be safe.
Inspect the house and around the plugs after heavy rains, just to make sure that the plugs are still dry and the walls don’t have any water leakages. Remember that water and electricity are a dangerous combination.
• Going away
Whether you’re going to a holiday destination or visiting family, take time to acquaint yourself with your surroundings. Inspect and test plugs to ensure that they are fit for use. Know where the main switchboard is to switch off the power if needed.
It is important to survey where your children will be playing and understand where the dangers are as soon as possible.
According to the power utility, practicing electricity safety goes two ways: Knowing and getting the danger fixed where possible, but also knowing how to respond when someone is shocked by electricity. This must be taught to children as well. We often find that the natural response is to pull the person away but that may result in the person assisting also getting injured.
In the unfortunate event that someone does get in harmful contact with electricity, follow these steps:
• Switch off the main power
• Always use a dry, non-conductible item such as wood or plastic to move the live component away from the person in contact. Under no circumstance should you touch the person without protecting yourself
• Always seek medical help as soon as possible
• Keep emergency numbers on speed dial on your phone
