It may be the weekend and some of us will be enjoying some downtime but electricity doesn't know its Saturday or Sunday and continues to power our lives which means electrical safety is a 24/7/365 concern and something we all must be aware of to make sure we keep safe as best as we can.

Electrical safety especially in private rented homes has improved greatly over the last few years due to a change in electrical and fire safety regulations meaning mandatory electrical wiring testing and increased fire detectors has improved the safety for the tenants.

Improving electrical safety in homes and businesses continues to be at the top of the agenda for our electrical trade organisation in Scotland SELECT and their hard work so far should be congratulated and their efforts for continual improvement supported.

Last year I wrote a small article on electrical safety and efficiency in homes which was published in the popular Love Local magazine which covers Stirling and Clackmannanshire areas.

The article can be read below and if you have any questions about how you can improve electrical safety and efficiency in your premises please ask by commenting on this post or contact me via our website. 

Another good source for safety advice within your home can be found at the Electrical Safety First website.

The importance of having a Residual Current Device (RCD) installed within your premises is highlighted in these photographs where this fault (screw through part of a cable) was undetected until an RCD was installed as part of a new consumer unit installation.

The life saving device which offers a level of personal protection that ordinary fuses and circuit-breakers cannot provide tripped when it sensed an imbalance between the neutral and earth wires. This fault within a socket in a family home was thankfully detected by the RCD before the cable hole increased through time and touched and exposed the red live wire where the potential of shock and fire risk would have greatly increased.

RCD's are now a very important requirement of current electrical regulations where most if not all circuits within a home should have RCD protection.

Further information on RCD's can be found at the weblink below and here at SES we offer free estimates in most circumstances if you would like us to quote for the replacement of your old fusebox with a new safer life and premises saving RCD consumer unit.

http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/electrical-items/rcds-explained/

Last Saturday night our emergency electrician received a call from one of our clients asking us to attend to a property in Alloa which had no power after a flood.

On arrival our electrician found that the Residual Circuit Device (RCD) within the consumer unit had tripped switching off the electricity to a number of circuits within the property. The RCD device had tripped because as it was monitoring the circuits it had sensed an imbalance between conductors due to the water ingress at a socket and had quickly and safely switched off the electricity. 

If no RCD device had been installed within the consumer unit then the water ingress problem would have taken longer to become noticed within the electrical system so a much longer delay would have occurred before a Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) tripped or even much longer if the circuit was protected by old style fuse wire which could potentially pose a fire risk to the property.

RCD devices are now an essential part of modern electrical installations and if you do not have this device installed within your home or property then we strongly recommend that one is installed for both person and property safety.

The Electrical Safety Council have published some FAQ's on RCD devices which explains more but before you visit and read  their page watch the video below which highlights why RCD devices should be installed.

This easter when using power tools in the garden (probably in the snow) make sure you and your property are protected by using an RCD - contact us if you need more info.

http://www.esc.org.uk/public/home-electrics/rcd-faqs/#c1283