Dangers Of Electric Shocks For Toddlers

Generally children are at little risk from getting an electric shock these days. Electrical appliances are the main danger around then home.

You can make you home even safer for your children by following these simple rules.

Just installing items like Baby Safety Gates does not solve all of the problems around your home.

With regard to electrical appliances you can often tell if they are faulty just by looking at them. Inspect them regularly for frayed cables and wires, they can become frayed over time due to normal use. If the cable is damaged then this will present a hazard to your child as children tend to be on the floor crawling around during their everyday activities. Whilst you are checking the cables, have a look at the socket outlets to see if there is any sign of burning check to see if they work properly. If one side of a double socket works and the other does not then get it changed as there is clearly a fault.

Overloading sockets is another practice to avoid, especially taking extension leads off extension leads, doing this will certainly overload any sockets, and may cause a fire due to the high resistance in the cable due to its length. So avoid this at all costs. Also to be avoided are the multi-way plug adapters as they too can quickly overload a circuit if used for heating appliances etc.

Sockets are also favourite places for children to poke things into, sockets are designed not to have things pushed into them other than plugs, but to be safe fit socket covers to those empty sockets that are accessible to your child, fitting these devices will stop anything being push into them. If you child does push something metal into the socket tubes they stand a very good chance of getting an electric shock.

With regard to electrical equipment make sure that your child is unable to plug them in by themselves as they risk being injured by the equipment itself. Hair straighteners or hair dryers and irons can cause burning if they are touched. Turn off any appliances that are not designed to be left on, fridges are designed to be left on phone chargers and curling tongs are not. If you are unsure about any appliances in your home then do not use it. You can pay to have them checked out, if it is an expensive piece of equipment you can have a PAT (Portable Appliance Test) done on them which will let you know it is safe to use. If you need to find a PAT tester then look under portable appliance testing in the yellow pages.

Check that heating appliances are mounted correctly and check that they are not too close to walls or curtains. If you have a toddler it would be wise to ensure that they are unable to touch the heater or even get hold of the electrical chord in case they pull it down on top of themselves.

Remember water and electricity does not mix, ensure that when you feed your child or have then drink be sure that they cannot drop the liquid on any plug sockets or any equipment. Purchasing Baby Safety Products can help reduce any risks in your home.

Having your electric checked on a regular basis will help to ensure that your home is electrically safe. When having the circuits checked by a qualified electrician such as an NICEIC registered company, you will get a full report of the electrical installation when its completed. They will highlight to you any issued that present itself. If your property has the old pull out fuses (BS 3036) they will recommend that you have it changed for a more modern unit that offers some degree of supplementary protect against electric shock. The new consumer unit will be fitted with an RCD protective device. They save lives every year.