Electrical Safety
Indoor Safety
There are four important points to prevent indoor electrical accidents.
- Never use an electrical appliance on a wet surface, and never use one when your feet are wet or in a bath or shower.
- Never overload a circuit with too many appliances. Allow only one appliance per plug or outlet.
- Frayed electric wires and cords are dangerous and should be replaced or repaired immediately.
- Never touch a faulty appliance, damaged plug or bare wire. Never insert a metal object into an appliance or outlet, or touch them with wet hands.
Outdoor Safety
To prevent outdoor electrical accidents, follow these tips to keep yourself safe.
- Watch out for and stay away from overhead wires when you’re around trees, or if using a ladder, moving irrigation pipes, TV antennas, pool skimmers or any other long object that could come in contact with an overhead line.
- Never fly kites, model airplanes or climb or trim a tree that is anywhere near an overhead line.
- Remember to plant trees away from power lines, or plant only low-growing trees underneath power lines.
- Never touch a downed power line, and if you should see someone who is being electrocuted, don’t touch the person without first cutting off the power source.
- Never climb power poles or transmission towers.
- Stay away from green metal boxes, which replace overhead lines and are found on backyard property lines or behind buildings.
- Make sure tools and appliances are approved for outdoor use. They are made with heavier wiring, special insulation and three-way ground plugs.
- Always keep any electrical device or appliance away from water.
- Always stay in your car if a fallen power line hits it, and wait for help to arrive. If the car catches fire, jump clear of the car without touching the metal and the ground at the same time.
- Stay away from water, trees and power lines during an electrical storm.
Call Before You Dig
Home improvements are important, but so is staying alive. So if you’re building a fence, installing a sprinkler system, or doing any other kinds of digging, grading or excavating around your home or yard, be sure to locate the cable before you dig. You don’t know what electric, gas, telephone, fiber optics, or water lines may be just below the surface. To find out, call 811.
