With Christmas, come lights. Lots of beautiful lights. The kind of lights that will attract most toddlers, making them vulnerable to all the hazards that comes with electricity in and around the home.
According to the Australian IHW National Injury Surveillance Unit around 1500 people are injured through electrical hazards. 209 of those are children with the majority of injuries (65% being to the wrist and hand).
Children are inquisitive. They tend to touch anything that catches their attention. However, you must watch out for harmful things, especially electricity. Just a spark might seem small, but it can cause serious injury and death.
Remind your children to ask your supervision when dealing with electricity. Tell them that they should never touch electrical appliances or plug in gadgets without your guidance.
Don’t put any object inside a power point, especially metal objects. Keep power outlets and sharp objects away from your children’s reach.
Never overload your outlet or extension cord by plugging in too many appliances and gadgets at the same time. It is never safe to overload an electrical system as it can cause electrical sparks and potentially damage gadgets or appliances.
Since you have children in your home, remember to use plug caps. Plug caps provide an extra layer of safety for your children around electricity.
They prevent them from poking things in the outlet or even inserting their tiny fingers.
Never yank the electrical cords from the outlet. You should pull the plug only not the cord.
It can not only damage your appliances but also the outlet, and thus can cause electrical accidents if someone touches it.
There is something about toasters and kids that just screams, “Stick a knife or fork into it”. Never allow yourself – or a child – to insert metal objects inside toasters.
Keep kids away from damaged or worn electrical cord and christmas lighting. If you don’t want an electrical accident, have damaged electricals repaired as soon as you notice them.
Faulty or damaged cables and appliances can cause injury, death, and will almost certainly damage equipment further.
Water and electricity are not friends. Never let your children touch any appliances or gadgets when they have wet hands.
Keep them away from water and electricity at the same time to avoid a serious accident or death.
Keep liquids away from power sources. Never allow your children to be near an outlet or appliances when they are carrying a liquid that could spill into an outlet or on to a power board.
Apart from these tips, electrical accidents can be avoided if you educate your children from an early age.
Teach them these tips by demonstrating them or showing them videos and pictures. It will help them understand the risks and appropriate behaviour around electricity.
One of the more common electrical problems at this time of year is damage done to circuit breakers.
While the wiring up of your lights might be something you tackle yourself, most professional electricians will recommend you do not trying rewiring where circuit breakers are concerned.
Far better to call a qualified electrician than to burn the house down – or give yourself a serious electric shock.
In the case of an electric shock accident, call emergency services or go to the nearest hospital.
Regarding first-aid treatment for electrical shocks or injury, never touch or even approach the victim until you have surveyed the area for ongoing danger.
Even better, if possible, turn off the mains power to prevent any other injury from the same or a different source. This will also allow you and others to approach the victim without any risk of an electric shock.
do not apply anything to the burn, such as ointment, cream, oil, butter, spray, or any other household remedy (except cold water).
Call an ambulance right away and keep the victim lying down providing they’re not in danger from another source.
If the victim stopped breathing, perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. And if there’s no pulse, perform CPR then use a blanket to cover the victim.