Every year a significant number of electrical accidents and injuries are caused by electrical products. And around half of all accidental fires in UK homes have an electrical origin and 85% of these can be attributed to electrical appliances.
Product misuse is a major cause of these accidents and our campaigns addresses the basic and easily avoidable "blunders" that people make when using electrical appliances in the home.
Some of our Campaigning Activity
Our campaigns offer safety advice for using all household electrical products, ranging from white goods to phone chargers. The messages are relevant to all UK adults but we also focus on specific groups with some of our campaigns.
We have a microsite dedicated to white goods, with tips on staying safe when using fridges and freezers, washing machines and tumble dryers, and dishwashers.
Find out more about our Beauty Burns campaign, which highlighted the high number of children suffering burns from hair straighteners and other electrical beauty products.
We appealed to pet lovers with a warning on the risks of leaving phones charging unattended.
Advice for Consumers
There are simple steps that people can take to stay safe when using electrical appliances in the home, including:
- always follow manufacturers' instructions
- check that the electrical products in your home are not damaged before use by carrying out simple visual checks on cables and plugs
- don't overload sockets when using electrical appliances in the home.