Electricity Safety for Children

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A total of 28 deaths were reported in the UK in 2010 involving electricity.
Some of the items that were reported causing these accidents involving electric shock included electric sockets and plugs, strimmers and lawnmowers, extension leads and cables, washing machines and dishwashers, hair dryers, toasters and light fittings.

See our range of child accident prevention picture books.

Electricity for Children

• Keep children away from touching power points or pluging in an electrical appliance.
• 17% of household fires are caused by faulty and misused electricity items, such as loose wiring, damaged cables and leads, while 26% are caused by people not using electrical appliances correctly.
• Teach children that water and electricty do not mix and never allow your children to touch electrical items with wet hands.
• Never allow children to use an electrical appliance in the bathroom where they could get an appliance wet.
• Never allow a child to use a knife in an electrical toaster.
• Switch off all electrical appliances before going to bed.
• Always unplug a kettle or a steam iron when you are filling it with water.
• Don't leave an electric fire on near curtains or leave clothes to dry over it.

The Electrical Safety Council (ESC) have developed a free interactive socket overload calculator to help householders understand how they can avoid overloading their sockets and reduce the risk of fire.

The Socket Calculator has been brought to you by the Electrical Safety Council. For more safety information visit www.esc.co.uk