‘Tis the season to celebrate safely! This holiday season, the IBEW NECA 252 team wants to keep everyone in the Washtenaw and Jackson County communities safe and sound. Check out the electrical safety tips below to keep safety at the top of your list this year.
1. Inspect electrical decorations for damage before use.
Loose or bare wires, cracked or damaged sockets, and loose connections could cause a shock or start a fire.
2. Do not overload electrical outlets.
Overloaded electrical outlets and faulty wires are a common cause of holiday fires. Avoid overloading outlets and plug only one high-wattage connection into each outlet at a time.
3. Never connect more than three strings of incandescent lights.
Connecting more than three strings of lights can not only blow a fuse, but may also cause a fire.
4. Keep indoor trees fresh by watering them daily.
Dry trees are an extreme fire hazard if they are not treated properly.
5. Use battery-operated candles.
Regular burning candles start almost half of home decoration fires. (National Fire Protection Association)
6. Keep combustibles at least three feet from heat sources.
Heat sources that are too close to decorations are a large factor in home fires that begin with decorations. (National Fire Protection Association)
7. Protect electrical cords from damage.
To avoid shock or fire hazards, cords should not be placed by furniture, maneuvered into small spaces such as doors and windows, set under rugs, located near heat sources, or adhered by nails or staples.
8. Check decorations with electrical components for certification labels.
Decorations that do not have a label from an independent testing laboratory such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Canadian Standards Association (CSA), or Intertek (ETL) have not been tested for safety and could be hazardous.
9. Stay in the kitchen while something is cooking.
Leaving cooking utensils unattended is a leading cause of home cooking fires. (National Fire Protection Association)
10. Turn off, unplug, and extinguish all holiday decorations when going to sleep or leaving the house.
Unattended candles are the cause of one in five home candle fires. Half of home fire deaths occur between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. (National Fire Protection Association).
Keep the 10 electrical safety tips above in mind to help make sure your holidays don’t go from merry to scary. Happy holidays from all of us at IBEW NECA 252! Contact us today if you have questions about your electrical safety this holiday season.