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Kids can be very curious. The younger they are, the more likely they are going to go around touching things they shouldn’t. As a result, you need to keep a close eye on them. Leave them unattended for one second and they could get an injury. However, the reality is, as a parent, you can’t always pay close attention to them. You have house chores and other responsibilities to attend to.
So, what do you do? You provide an environment that is risk and hazard free for children. When talking about electrical safety, there is a lot to take note. While this may be the most dangerous hazard, it is fairly easy to take preventive measures.
1. Keep Your Sockets Covered
Children can be very curious. Every hole they can see, they are going to stick their fingers inside, and sockets are no exemption. Fortunately, you can easily buy socket covers.
However, there are different kinds available in the market. Always do your research when making a purchase because you might end up buying something that would do more harm than good.
2. Keep Cables Out of Reach
Holes are not the only thing that children are going to be curious about. Their attention will also be easily captivated by the presence of wires. They can pull and yank them as hard as they can which can cause them to break. It doesn’t need much thinking to know how hazardous broken cables can be.
The easiest solution to this dilemma is to keep wires out of reach. When an appliance doesn’t need to be plugged in, then it shouldn’t be. In cases that a wire needs to be plugged in, you can keep them hidden by covering them with tape.
3. Use Thick and Strong Cables
When keeping cables out of reach is not so much a choice, at least use ones that are thick and strong. It is not a question of whether or not a child will yank your wires, but what will happen when they do. As long as the cables don’t break, your children are going to be safe until you spot them with what they are doing and make them stop.
4. Install RCD
An RCD is more of a general safety measure. It stands for residual-current device and it breaks an electrical circuit to prevent serious harm during an electrical shock. So, when your kid does manage to remove a socket cover, the most that they would get is a slight shock. You are not going to worry about any life-threatening harm or injury, just a crying child.
5. Keep Conductors Out of Reach
Another thing to remember is that kids can get a little too playful. Sometimes, they grab what they can and put them together. It is all fun and games until what they manage to piece together is a silverware and a source of electricity. On a different perspective, a child can be bringing a glass of water and spill it on a power source. So, to say the least, keep possible conductors out of children’s reach.
6. Start Using Plug Covers
When you are not using a socket, you use socket covers. In the case that something is plugged in, you use plug covers. What it does is make sure that the plug cannot be yanked by a child. When something cannot be unplugged, the kid doesn’t end up getting access to an open socket.
7. Never Use Substandard Electrical Items
While this may come as common sense, it has always been a part of human nature to always opt for the cheapest products. Sometimes, you end up undermining the importance of a small device so you go for the cheapest option, like extension wires.
However, unregulated electrical devices can act erratically. No matter how much care you take when using them, they have the potential to burn or break. While adults have the initiative to stay away from a compromised device, children don’t.
8. Take Note of Heat
When something is utilizing electricity, expect that it will produce heat. While some devices produce a small amount, others create enough to cause burns. You are going to want to keep these appliances away from children. You never know what they might touch, at least you don’t have to worry about them getting burned.
9. Keep Toaster Away from Kids
Educate kids to not use or insert any metal object in the toaster. Usually, some do this to pick something that gets stuck in the toaster. Many of you would have experienced the toaster trip the fuse off when it comes in contact with metal object. This is a common problem for toasters. Something in the toasters wiring goes wrong, and it begins to draw more amps than a toaster should. It often draws so many amps that it can overload the circuit and trip it. So keep toaster away from kids or educate them about this.
Electrical safety should be your number one priority if you have children. The house can be a pool of risks and hazards that can be life-threatening at times. What you can do is to be prepared and there are a lot of ways to do that. As long as you follow this list, there is no way for your child to experience an electrical injury.
Stay Safe!