We use electricity everyday but it’s important to remember that it can be really dangerous if you don’t use it safely. We’ve put together some advice on what you should and shouldn’t do to help stop electrical accidents from happening in your home. You’ll find some handy energy saving tips to help you get the most out of your electric and save you a few pennies, too!
If you live in one of our rented homes we’ll carry out an electrical check (officially called an Electrical Installation Condition Report) every five years or when there’s a change in who lives there.
Why do I need an electrical check and what does it involve?
As your landlord, we legally have to carry out some electrical checks to make sure that the electrics at your house are in a satisfactory condition and so that you can keep using them safely. We do this every five years or when there’s a change in who lives there.
We’ll let you know when your home is due its testing and we’ll schedule in an appointment. It usually takes us about 3-4 hours to complete the checks, depending on how big your house is and how many circuits we need to test. We do have to turn everything off at the main supply, but we’ll remind you when we book your appointment so you can plan ahead.
If we find that some work needs to be done, don’t worry, we’ll get that sorted for you within 28 days of the test.
Top tips: Keeping electrics safe at home
- Don’t overload your sockets – you can use this ‘socket calculator’ to check that yours are safe
- Do visual checks and make sure your plugs, sockets and wires are all in good condition
- Don’t use the top of the microwave for storage
- Don’t take any mains powered items into the bathroom
- Doing DIY? Use this handy guide to keep safe when using electric tools
- Remember that water and electricity are not friends – keep them away from each other
- Only use electrical gardening equipment outside when it’s dry
- If your home has been flooded, don’t use any of the electrics as they could be damaged
- If you’re using electrical heaters, make sure that they’re kept away from fabrics, paper and furniture to stop a fire from breaking out.
How to test your smoke / heat and carbon monoxide alarms
The easiest way to test an alarm is to press the button on it so that the alarm goes off. If it makes a noise and sounds like an alarm, then you know it’s working correctly.
Test your alarms at least once a month to make sure they’re working. If you don’t think they’re working properly, then please give us a call so that we can replace them for you.
It’s important that you test your smoke/heat and carbon monoxide alarms to make sure that they’re working properly, especially in an event of an electrical accident that might cause a fire.
Keeping you safe in your home
If you’re looking for more information and advice, visit the Electrical Safety First website – the UK’s dedicated charity to reducing deaths and injuries caused by electrical accidents.
They share some top tips on staying safe in:
And, they’ve also got some ideas for how to cut down on your energy bills.
Keeping you safe in your home
If you’re worried about the electrical safety in your home, then please fill out our health and safety reporting form and we’ll get back to you to see how we can help.