The Importance of Electrical Safety

Did you know that household electrical faults cause almost 40% of home fires? This shocking statistic underlines why every homeowner or occupier should check their electrical installation often and, importantly, make sure that they have an adequate supply of safety switches. What are the current best practices in this area?

Understanding Regulation

The laws relating to household wiring have changed over the years, and modern-day properties are required to have safety switches installed. Often, they will have one switch per electrical circuit, and the home will typically have several of these, segregating the living room, bathroom, kitchen and other areas. For some reason, the government does not require older homes to be retrofitted but simply "recommends" that they are. Of course, an electrical fire will not recognise the age of a property, so the risks to these buildings remain high.

How Safety Switches Work

A safety switch is a relatively simple but potent device. It's designed to detect the presence of an electrical fault by constantly monitoring how electricity flows through the circuit. If there is a spike or a dip of current, the switch will automatically isolate in less than a second. Not only does this help to cut down the risk of fire depending on the type of fault, but it can also protect any person who comes into contact with appliances or switches that may be affected. Otherwise, there is a danger that the electricity would short-circuit and find the quickest path to earth through the human body.

Circuit-Specific

In an ideal world, there should be one safety switch (aka residual current device) on each circuit. Remember, though, circuits are not connected, so the presence of one safety switch in another area of the home may not be enough.

Checking up

If you live in an older house and are not sure how many safety switches you have, inspect every switch in each room. You will be able to tell whether each one is a safety switch or not because it will usually have a pop-out button (which is often red in colour). Check the switchboard, as safety switches are often mounted in this location.

Certificate of Compliance

If you feel that your home is not suitably equipped, you will need to bring in a licensed electrician. Nobody else can complete this type of work as they will need to provide you with a certificate of compliance at the end.

Contact an electrician in your area to learn more.