Electrical Safety in the Office and at Home

Electrical outlets can become dangerous when overloaded.  Though it may be easy to simply plug in another power strip or extension cord when adding equipment, the wiring in some buildings often isn't capable of supporting too many high-powered electronic appliances.  Older office buildings and homes, in particular, often suffer from lack of electrical outlets.  The temptation is to simply add a power strip or plug in an extension cord from acrss the room  Even in newer office buildings and homes, it can be all too easy to overload a single outlet with power-hungry machines such as computers, printers, scanners and monitors.

So what's the big deal?

When an employee or resident overloads an electrical outlet, that means more current is running through the outlet than it can handle.  This causes the outlet to overheat, which may lead to an electrical fire.  According to a 2008 National Fire Protection Association study, electrical distribution and lighting equipment are involved in more than 24,000 home structure fires per year.  These fires result in an average of 320 deaths per year and an estimated $700 million inproperty damage per year. 

If an electrical fire should occur in your office or home, get safely away from the fire and call your fire department immediately.  If you choose to use an extinguisher on the fire, never let the fire get between you and a safe exit, and never use water to extinguish an electrical fire.  The risk of electrical shock is far too great.  Class C fire extinguishers use a non-conductive extinguishing agent and should not cause electrical shock.

To help prevent this and other electrical hazards, refer to the list below (provided by Electrical Safety Foundation International).

* If you must use a power strip, use a name-brand product from a reputable retailer.  Low-quality or counterfeit power strips may contain wiring that isn't adequate to carry the load.

* Place power strips where there is planty of air circulation to disperse the heat.

* Never attempt to plug grounded (three-prong) cords into an ungrounded (two-prong) outlet.

* Do not bind, kink or knot electrical cords.

* Keep cords close to a wall to prevent the risk of tripping.